Power Couple
by melzabelza
Summary: Wade Barrett is a big time real estate developer with a bad reputation, Abigail DiNardo is top advertising executive that everyone loves. Can they find time to become the East Coast's top power couple? Or will work always interfere with pleasure? Wade Barrett/OC, AU. All the normal disclaimers here.
1. Tall, Dark and British

Wade took off his sunglasses and hung them from his shirt collar as he strolled into the coffee shop. He pushed up the sleeve of his suit jacket and checked the time on his fancy watch, smiling to himself, right on time, as always. He stood on line to order his espresso scanning the café looking for her, ahhh, there she was, scrolling through something on her phone and digging through her giant purse looking for god knows what. He saw her every day, she was always flustered, always distracted, but she knew all the baristas names and they always said hello and good morning to her. He was painfully curious about her, she dressed casual, but neat, nice fitting jeans and a knit top, fashionable but understated accessories, except for her enormous leather purse, the damned thing was half the size as her, but then again, that wasn't saying much, as she was quite short, he loved to see her hop up on her tip toes to grab her coffee from the counter. He would be lying if he said he didn't think about her when he was home alone at night, the way her ample breasts filled out her conservative shirts, what it would feel like to dig his fingers into her ass, just thinking about it now made his manhood swell. He quickly dug his phone out of his pocket, trying to discreetly adjust himself while pretending to look busy on his phone.

Abby grabbed her coffee from the barista, tossed some change in the tip jar and hurried out. She was cutting it close, she could not be late today, today was not the day, she turned around and WHAM! She walked right into an expensive suit, her XL mocha latte spilling all over his stomach and pants and her hand and arm and oh god no, not today…

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry," she gasped, she pulled napkins from the nearest table and started trying to dry off his white shirt, it had to be a white shirt, didn't it?

"It's alright, love," he said with a heavy British accent, "are you alright?"

She looked up at him, way up at him, sweet baby Jesus he was tall, and felt her cheeks burning, "Yeah, I, umm, I'll be fine, but I am just really sorry about that, I'll pay for the dry cleaning or a new shirt or whatever you want, jeeze, I'm sorry."

"No, its not your fault, I was texting while walking, bad idea," he said smiling at her as she continued dabbing at him with napkins, her face getting redder and redder. "Let me buy you another one of those."

"I can't, I, I'm already late as it is and I really can't be late today," she rambled on and on as she started blotting at the stains on his pants, she gasped and jumped back as she realized exactly where she was putting her hands. Her face burned hotter and she was sure her face looked like a giant tomato, she dug around in her bag and pulled out a business card, "here, um, send me your dry cleaning bill, I'm so sorry, really, I am but I have to go." She thrust the card into his hand and ran out of the café with her mostly empty coffee cup and a handful of wet napkins.

He stood staring at her as she fled from the restaurant, he looked down at his ruined shirt and then at the card in his hand. There was no way he was going to let her pay to replace his shirt, but now he knew her name and how to contact her and he was quickly devising a plan in his mind.

* * *

"Abigail! You are cutting it too close today! You still have to change out of those jeans and into something professional and the clients will be here any minute now," her assistant, Fred, barked at her as she ran into the office. "Abby! Abs, are you listening to me? You have less than 5 minutes!"

"I know Freddy, I know, look just get them settled in the conference room, I'll change and be there in 4 minutes, I swear," she looked at her assistant pleadingly. They had been working together for 3 years now and he was the best assistant she could ever ask for, she would literally be lost without him. She ran into her office and locked the door, yanked her jeans off and pulled on a sleek pinstripe pencil skirt, smoothed out her shell top and buttoned a perfectly tailored blazer over it, slipped into a pair of open toed heels and strolled out of her office. She smiled at Fred, who gave her a thumbs up and walked into the conference room to deliver her sales pitch to the most important client she would ever talk with, all with zero caffeine in her system.

* * *

Wade looked at the business card suspiciously, he still couldn't believe that hot mess of a woman was Abigail DiNardo the top advertising executive on the east coast. Surely she didn't run meetings in jeans and sneakers? But, then again, with her reputation, she could run meetings in velour tracksuits and people would still flock to her. He had went home and changed before returning to the café and picking up what the barista assured her was Abby's usual order. He shook his head again, Abby, now that name fit the image of the woman he saw every morning. He stepped out of the elevator and walked up to the man sitting at the reception desk.

"Hello, I'm Wade Barrett here to see Ms. DiNardo," he said.

"Is she expecting you, Mr. Barrett? Her schedule is rather tight today."

"No, she isn't, but I don't mind waiting. Just not too long, or the coffee will get cold."

The man raised an eyebrow and pointed to a row of chairs, "She's in a meeting, I'll let her know you are here when she gets out."

* * *

Abby poked her head out of the conference room after her clients left, "Psst. Freddy! Are they all gone?"

"Yes, but I need to…"

"Oh thank god," she said as she stepped out of her heels, "these things are like a prison for my little toes."

"Abby, this is important, focus. Wade Barrett is sitting in the lobby with coffee waiting to see you."

"You mean the hot shot real estate developer? What the hell could he want from me?" she asked poking her head out again and looking at the man sitting in her lobby. "Oh no. Oh my god. Of course, it would have to be. Oh my god."

"Abs…."

"Freddy, I spilled an entire HOT latte on that man in the café this morning. I was in such a rush to get here that I just tossed my business card at him and told him to send me his dry cleaning bill!"

Fred just looked at her as he processed what she was telling him, "Well, good luck Abs, it was nice knowing you. That man does NOT have a good reputation."

"But, he called me love…"

"Just softening you up for the kill, kiddo. Put your heels back on, and get your midget ass into your office, I'll send him in."

* * *

Abby took a few calming breaths when she heard Fred knock on her office door a few short moments later, "Come in," she called out curtly.

"Ms. DiNardo," he said extending his hand, "I come bearing what is now lukewarm coffee." His eyes quickly scanned her body, she pulled it together and looked downright delectable in that pencil skirt, she was tiny, but she packed a lot of curves into that short body of hers. Curves he ached to spend his nights exploring.

"Please, Mr. Barrett, call me Abby," she said shaking his enormous hand with as much authority as she could muster, she prided herself on having a firm handshake, but that's hard to do with a man who's hand is twice the size of yours. She tried to ignore the fluttering sensation low in her belly and gestured to the plush seat across from her desk, "please have a seat, you really didn't have to go through all this trouble just to bring me your dry cleaning bill."

He cleared his throat as he placed the coffee on her desk and tried not to dwell on how soft her hand felt inside his and how it would feel tangled in his hair as he… focus dammit, he admonished himself. "Well then Abby, call me Wade," he said taking a sip from his own coffee. "I'm not here to give you a bill, just want to replace the coffee I knocked from your hand this morning."

Abby felt her face start to flush again, "I'm sorry, really, that was my fault, I wasn't paying attention and…"

"And I was walking around staring at my phone," he said flashing her a brilliant smile. "So, love, let's say we share the blame, huh?"

She nodded and took in the man sitting across her desk, he was beyond tall, well dressed and now that she knew who he was, she was certain that his suit was pricey. A large shiny watch peeked out from under his sleeves, most likely it was pretty pricey too. His brown hair was short but still slightly unruly and he was sporting a full beard that made him all the more intimidating. But it was his eyes that gave him away, she was too rattled to notice them earlier, his eyes were warm, friendly, light brown with a hint of green, eyes a girl could get lost in. She gave herself a mental kick and tried to focus on what he was saying, it wasn't like her to drift off like this…

"Of course, since I didn't call first to make sure you were free, the coffee is cold and now I still owe you," he was saying. "Are you free for lunch?"

"No, actually, today I'm pretty booked, I have a lunch meeting," she said as her intercom buzzed and Fred's stern voice drifted in.

"Ms. DiNardo, your 12:30 will be here shortly, I've arranged the sandwiches in the conference room."

"Thank you, Fred. I'll be in shortly." She smiled apologetically, "I'm sorry, Wade, I need to get going."

She stood and showed him to the door, "I'll call your assistant and set something up," he said with a wink, "Have a good day, love."

She watched the elevator doors close behind him and took a deep breath, "Wow."

"Wow, is right Abs," Fred said looking up from his computer, "you are free the rest of the week for lunch, and I plan on keeping it that way until Mr. Tall, Dark and British calls."


	2. Until Next Time

It turned out to be much more difficult to make lunch plans than they thought it would be, when Abby was free, Wade had meetings, when Wade was free, Abby had to eat lunch at her desk and catch up on emails and memo writing. Finally, one full week later, Fred barged into her office at 11:45 and looked her up and down shaking his head disapprovingly.

"You are going to wear that to lunch with Tall, Dark and British?!"

"Jeebus, Freddy, you are worse than my mother," Abby said not looking up from her computer. She was wearing dark wash jeans, wedge sandals to give her a little bit of extra height and simple blue tunic. "We see each other every day at the café, he is fully aware of my boring wardrobe."

"Well, at least you managed not to spill anything else on him," Fred said shaking his head, "Now, go brush your teeth, fix your hair and put some lip gloss on, you have to leave in 10 minutes."

* * *

Wade was waiting outside the café 10 minutes early, he wanted to be a gentleman and pick Abby up at her office, but she insisted on meeting him outside the coffee shop. There were dozens of nicer places, there was an Italian Bistro a block away, a sandwich place, a diner, he could go on and on, but Abby said the café was just fine, with its prepackaged sandwiches and small tables. At exactly noon, he looked up and saw Abby jogging across the street, he switched his phone to vibrate and slid it in his jacket pocket as she approached him.

"Am I late? I'm so sorry," she said a little breathlessly.

"Not at all, you are exactly on time," he said holding the door open for her, appreciating the way those jeans hugged her ass.

Abby felt her cheeks flush as soon as Wade smiled at her, of course he was wearing one of his pricey suits, she noticed that he didn't wear a white shirt this time, she assumed he was playing it safe. She felt a little out of place in her jeans and knit top standing next to him in his designer suit that was likely custom made. They placed their orders and sat down at a small table near the windows where they stared at each other in awkward silence.

"So… he we are," she said fiddling with the paper wrapper from her straw.

"Yeah, here we are," he echoed. "So… how was your morning?"

"Quiet, thankfully, was catching up on emails and returning phone calls. Finally crossing things off my to-do list. You?"

"Yeah, prepping for a big meeting tomorrow. My brother will do most of the speaking, I'm just there to look pretty," he said winking at her.

She laughed, "Ha! I wish I that was my role, I have Fred for that."

He was about to say something about how he thought she was gorgeous when the server appeared with their sandwiches, by the time their food was served, the moment had passed. They munched in silence for a few moments until Abby blurted out, "They have good bread here."

He nodded, "Yeah. They do."

They finished their lunch with minimal talking, when Wade checked his watch and sighed, "Well, love, I need to be getting back."

"Yeah, of course, big meeting tomorrow. Ummm, thanks for lunch," she smiled and stood up, grabbing her giant purse from the back of her chair and bumping the edge of the table, making everything fall over. Her mouth formed a perfect O as she watched her sparkling water tumble over and land right in Wade's lap. "Oh. My. God. Wade. I am so sorry. I just, I'm not normally so…" she stuttered and handed him napkins as everyone in the café turned to stare at them. Abby just kept rambling on apologizing when Wade finally took her shaking hand in his.

"Relax, Abby. Its just water," he kissed the back of her hand, "next time, we'll do something that doesn't involve liquids, huh?"

"Next time," she said in a whisper, "Are you sure?"

He squeezed her hand and looked in her big brown eyes, "Absolutely."

* * *

Wade walked back to his office and smiled to himself, that was the most awkward lunch date he had ever been on. He was a smart man, he should quit before she ruined anymore of his clothes, but there was something about Abby that he couldn't resist.

"Mr. Barrett?" Their receptionist interrupted his thoughts, "You have three messages and your brother has been looking for you."

"Thanks Cynthia, please, call me Wade, this Mr. Barrett stuff is too formal."

"Yes, of course, and sir, why are your pants all wet?"

"Wade, call me Wade. You can call Harvey 'sir' and 'Mr. Barrett' if you so desire. And my pants are wet because my date is the clumsiest woman I have ever met in my life," he replied as he walked into his brother's office, "Really, Harv, can't I have one lunch hour without you pestering me?"

"Wade! Finally! I just accepted an invitation to a cocktail party for next Friday night. You need a tuxedo and a date."

"Harvey, this is hardly a catastrophe, it could have waited," he said draping himself in his brother's guest chair, "And it's really about time you got a more comfortable chair for me to sit in while I watch you have a yet another mental breakdown."

"You have less than two weeks to find a date, the client demands that we bring our significant others. Marci is booking the babysitter as we speak. We can't risk pissing off this client, Wade. I suppose you can always bring Cynthia…."

"Relax, big brother, take a deep breath and drink some green tea. You do remember that you forced me to buy a tux a few months ago?"

Harvey popped a few antacids and chewed them before sipping his tea, "Yes. But a date. You need a date. I'll tell Cynthia to clear her schedule, I'm sure her husband won't mind."

"Harv, you are going to give yourself an ulcer," he stood up and strolled out of his brother's office, "I know exactly who I can ask."

"And maybe you should switch to chamomile," he added as he settled down in his own office, he chuckled when he heard Cynthia attempt to cover up a laugh as a cough. "Even our ultra-professional assistant agrees."

* * *

"Well?" Fred demanded as Abby walked past him and plopped down in her desk chair with a dramatic sigh. She kicked off her sandals and slipped her feet into the cozy moccasins she kept under her desk. "I screwed it up," she said, "I'm going to be single forever. I'll be the crazy old aunt that buys everyone slippers for Christmas and has Kleenex shoved up her sleeves." She folded her arms on her desk and put her head down.

"Please tell me you didn't spill anything on him…"

She groaned and banged her head on her desk, "Maybe I should get a cat."

"Abs, no. What was it this time?"

"Sparkling water. Lemon. His crotch will smell like lemon for the rest of the day," she wailed.

"Well, at least you didn't scald the bat and balls this time," Fred said stifling a laugh.

"You're fired," she said, "Again."

"Whatever you say Abs," he said walking out, "Don't forget the Wesson conference call at 2:30."

Abby banged her head on her desk one last time before getting back to work.

* * *

The next morning Wade caught up with Abby as she was leaving the coffee shop, "Good morning, love."

She gripped her coffee with both hands, "Don't get too close…"

He chuckled, "Can I walk you to your office?"

"Ummm… OK. I thought you had some big meeting today."

"Its not until the afternoon, its better to let my brother freak out in his office alone," he looked down at her and laughed at the concern that clouded her pretty brown eyes, "Relax, he'll be alright, I bought him a brand new bottle of TUMS."

They stopped at the corner to wait for the light to change and Wade blurted out his question, "So, I have a cocktail party to attend next Friday night, would you do me the honor of being my date?"

Abby flushed, "I would love to, but I have a cocktail party too. What are the odds? Where is yours?"

"Downtown Marriott…"

"Penthouse ballroom…" she said nodding her head. "Are you sure you want to go to a formal event with me?"

Wade laughed and Abby couldn't help but laugh too, the way his eyes crinkled when he smiled melted her to the core, "Champagne doesn't stain, and besides those champagne flutes are so small anyway."

She smirked, "So, you're telling me that you fully expect me to spill champagne on you and you are willing to get a small stain on your tux?"

They had stopped walking outside Abby's office, "Something like that love," he said as he leaned down and gently brushed his lips against hers. "See you tomorrow."

Abby's jaw fell as she watched Wade strut away, she was going to need Fred's help picking out a cocktail dress, her standard black sleeveless sheath wasn't going to cut it this time.


	3. Cocktail Sauce

Abby stared at her reflection in the full length mirror in her bedroom, Fred was amazing. The dress looked hideous on the hanger, but he was right, she put it on and she fell in love with it. It was the perfect mix of professional and sexy, the sleeveless boat neck top kept the girls contained while the low vee back revealed just enough skin to be sexy, and she was able to wear a bra. It was slim, hugging her hips and stopping a respectable length above her knee. Of course, if she were a normal height, then the dress would have been too short for a business event, her lack of height actually helped her this time. But it was really the color that she fell in love with, she would have never chosen it on her own. The bright red silk sheath was overlaid with a wine colored lace that was simply stunning. She pinned her hair in a simple French twist, slipped on a pair of strappy black heels and added pearl stud earrings that used to belong to her grandmother. A sparkly bracelet and a small handbag and she earned two thumbs up from Fred.

"I just need to grab a sweater for later and then we can go."

"Oh no you don't," Fred said dragging her out the door.

"But its going to get really cold tonight, I'll freeze in this!"

"No, you will not, you will learn if Tall Dark and British is a true gentleman or not."

Abby stared at him blankly, "I don't get it."

Fred sighed dramatically as she locked her door, "Abs, Wade will insist on taking you home tonight, if you get outside and you are cold, a true gentleman would offer his jacket. Then he will walk you to your door and you use the jacket as an excuse to invite him inside."

Abby kissed his cheek, "Fred, I would truly be lost without you."

He snorted, "As well as single until you die…"

* * *

Wade parked his car, his pride and joy, his Jaguar XF 3.0, in the hotel parking lot and sneered at the valet attendants, like he would let any of those pimple faced kids drive his baby. He strolled to the entrance where he leaned down to give his sister in law a kiss on cheek.

"You look ravishing as always, Marci," he said sincerely. "I still don't know what you see in my brother."

Marci laughed, "I simply can't resist the Barrett charm!"

Harvey looked around nervously, "where is your date? You promised you'd have a date, it's too late to call Cynthia now."

"Marci, do that thing you do that makes him relax," Wade said rolling his eyes. "Abby insisted on meeting me here, she's rather independent, after all she did build her business from the ground up."

"Sounds like you've met your match. What does she do?" Marci asked.

"She's in advertising. She's brilliant in the boardroom and a hot mess everywhere else."

"Advertising? Abby? Wade, don't tell me your date is..." Harvey's voice trailed off as Abby got out of a car and strolled towards them.

Wade grinned and hurried over to meet her.

"Call me if Price Charming turns out to be a frog," Freddy said as she pecked him on the cheek and got out of the car.

Wade was speechless, Abby was perfect. That dress hugged every curve on her delicious body, "Abby, you are beautiful," he said taking her hand.

She felt her face get hot, "Um. Thank you. You look, umm, good." She mentally kicked herself, good? Was that the best she could come up with? Wade looked fantastically amazing and all she could say was ummmm good!

"Thank you, love. Come meet my brother and his wife."

After introductions were made, Marci excused herself to find the ladies room, "Care to join me Abby?"

Wade watched her walk away and was so mesmerized by the way her hips swayed that he almost didn't hear his brother hissing in his ear.

"Abigail DiNardo? Really, you're dating Abigail DiNardo? Are you trying to soften your image or something?"

Wade looked at his brother in disgust, "Not everything is about business big brother. You didn't marry Marci to impress the other CEOs did you?"

"Wade, wait, it's just that..."

"What? She has a reputation for being the nicest human on the east coast? And everyone thinks that I'm a giant asshole? So what could we possibly have in common?" Wade walked away from his brother and waited by the elevators for the ladies to rejoin them. Marci and Abby came out giggling like they were best friends and Wade felt his aggravation with Harvey melt away as soon as she smiled at him.

"Now Wade, remember, I'm here for business too, so I'm going to have to make some rounds on my own," she said as she looped her arm in his.

"Of course, love, just don't forget about me," he said winking at her.

Marci rolled her eyes, "like a woman could ever forget a Barrett..."

* * *

Wade knew that Abby was well liked in the business community but he wasn't prepared for the way people gravitated towards her. She brought a smile to the face of every person she talked to, he watched her talk with a couple she obviously knew very well while struggling to focus on the potential clients he was schmoozing. She looked up and caught him watching her, he grinned and winked at her, chuckling as her cheeks flooded with color.

"So, you and Ms. DiNardo, huh," the man said slapping his back.

"Yes, sir, she did me the honor of accompanying me tonight," Wade said proudly.

"Good man, I'll have my secretary set up a meeting for late next week. I'm sure we can work together."

Wade shook his hand, "that's excellent. I'll tell Cynthia to keep a few days open for you."

Two hours later many of the guests had excused themselves, including Harvey and Marci, and Wade and Abby were standing in a quiet corner munching on finger foods.

Abby dipped shrimp in cocktail sauce and chewed thoughtfully, "I'm not used to coming with a date. I kinda like it."

"Well that's a relief! I did enjoy watching you work the room," he said taking a bite of some smoked fish pastry thingy. "This isn't bad, you want to try one?"

Abby shook her head, "shrimp," she said as she dragged one through the cocktail sauce on her plate. Just as she was about to pop it in her mouth, two clearly intoxicated men wobbled by, one of them tripped and knocked Abby, and her dish, right into Wade. The man mumbled an apology and kept walking leaving Abby to stare in horror at the cocktail sauce stain on Wade's tuxedo shirt.

"No. Oh my god, Wade. I'm so sorry, I tried so hard, I didn't have anything to drink, not even water! No liquids... And that's really red..."

Wade laughed loudly making the few remaining guests look their way. "Abby," he tried to interrupt her, she was getting flustered and babbling and he felt awful. "Abby, stop. Abby, listen to me." He finally wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her next to him. "Abby, that was not your fault."

She stuck out her lower lip and pouted, "But, it's gonna go on my record."

"Relax. I was thinking of investing in a dry cleaner anyway."

She pulled away and looked up at him in shock, "Oh my god. I am so embarrassed."

He took her hand again, "That was supposed to be a joke. Abby, it's not a big deal. It's just a shirt. I have a clean one in the car."

"How can I make it up to you?"

"You can let me drive you home," he said softly.

She looked up, surprised by the sudden change in his voice, his eyes twinkled and he smiled at her. She tried to ignore the butterflies in her stomach, she nodded her head and let him lead her towards the elevator. The elevator doors closed and Wade suddenly had a very hard time keeping his hands to himself. He kept reminding himself that he was a gentleman and this was a business event, and for those two reasons, he was not going to suck his date's face off in the elevator, no matter how intoxicatingly sexy she was.

Abby fiddled with her little cocktail purse, Wade was standing so close to her, he had his hand in the small of her back as he led her to the elevator and for some reason she found herself feeling incredibly turned on. Maybe it was because his hand was so massive and strong against her body, whatever the reason, she felt overwhelmed as soon as the doors closed and they were alone in the tiny elevator. It didn't feel so tiny on the way up with Harvey and Marci in there with them. She felt her phone buzzing in her purse and remembered that she hadn't checked in with Fred. He left her two voicemails and 5 text messages, the last one being a tad dramatic "_I give up. I tried. If you are in a ditch somewhere, it's not my problem._" She made a very unladylike snort and tapped out a reply, he responded immediately, demanding that she let him know when she got home. She rolled her eyes and looked up at Wade who was looking at her curiously, "Fred is a little bit of a mother hen. I have to text him when I get home."

Wade chuckled, "I give my word that I will get you home safely." He said as they walked out into the cool evening air. Abby shivered slightly and Wade wrapped his tux jacket around her shoulders before she could even protest. She slipped her arms in the sleeves and giggled awkwardly, "It kinda looks like I'm naked under here."

His jacket went down to her knees and he wasn't even sure if it was possible for her to push her hands out of the sleeves. "You look adorable, love," he said as he clicked the locks open on his car. She stopped at stared lovingly at his Jaguar.

"She's yours? She's gorgeous!" She exclaimed as he held the door open for her and she slid in as gracefully as she could wearing a suit jacket that was ten sizes too big. The inside was just as gorgeous as the shiny black exterior, leather seats, chrome dashboard, built in GPS. Wade punched in her address and they cruised back to her apartment building. She rented the penthouse on the 20th floor and had a great view of the city lights. It was small, but she loved it, it was perfect.

"Let me see you to your front door," he said, "I'm sure Fred would insist," he added when she shook her head.

She sighed, yes, Fred would insist. "Do you like staying in the city?" he asked as they waited for the elevator.

"I do! I love being able to walk everywhere. My parents live by the beach, so when I need to get away from the crowds and the noise, I pack up and go visit them." She punched in her code in the keypad to allow the elevator to go up to the penthouse and the doors slid closed behind them. Wade couldn't keep his hands to himself any longer, he wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her lips, softly at first, until she snaked her arms around his neck and parted her lips in a sigh. He darted his tongue across her bottom lip before plunging it into her mouth, he groaned as she ran her fingers through his hair. The elevator doors dinged open and Wade stood up to his full height, lifting her feet off the floor. His jacket slid off her shoulders and landed on the hallway floor, he carried her out of the elevator and pressed her against her front door never breaking the kiss. She wrapped her legs around his waist making her dress ride up around her hips as she gripped his shoulders and eagerly returned his kiss. He reached behind her and fumbled with the zipper on her dress and kneaded her ass with his other hand when she suddenly pushed away.

"Wade," she gasped, "No."

He loosened his grip and let her feet hit the floor, she blushed from the top of her head down to the neckline of her dress, "I'm sorry, I just… It's just that…"

He brushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear, "You don't have to be sorry, love."

"Your jacket fell…" she said to fill the awkward silence that filled her little hallway.

He backed away and picked it up, folding it over his forearm, "Thank you for coming with me tonight, Abby."

"Thanks for the ride home. And sorry about the cocktail sauce," she said her face getting even redder.

He chuckled, "You have nothing to be sorry about, love. Have a good night."

She unlocked her door and waited until she heard the elevator ding, before kicking off her shoes and sliding to the floor. She kicked herself a few times, then sent a message to Fred "_Home safe. Yes he gave me his jacket. Yes he walked me to the door. Yes he kissed me goodnight. I'm going to bed now. See you Monday."_

* * *

Wade hadn't heard from Abby all weekend, he sent her a text message Saturday afternoon and didn't hear anything back from her. He didn't think anything of it until he got to the café on Monday morning and didn't see her standing in line to get her typical weekday morning treat. He checked his watch, and looked around again, he was right on time and she wasn't anywhere. He hung back and let people go ahead of him buying some time, but she still didn't show up. He scowled and stomped out of the café, he messed up, big time, he went too fast too soon, gave into his hormones, and he scared her off, maybe Harv was right, maybe he was just an asshole.

He grunted at Cynthia and stomped into his office, "Mr. Barr… I mean, Wade, there is a package for you," she yelled after him. "I left it on your desk."

He grunted again and flung his suit jacket in the general direction of the coat rack in the corner and plopped down in his chair and stared at the little box on his desk. The return address was Abby's office, he carefully cut open the end and roared with laughter as the little items fell out onto his desk – a Tide-to-go pen and Shout wipes. A sheet of purple paper fluttered out last, he unfolded it and read her big loopy handwriting, "_Wade, figured you could use these. I prefer the Tide pen. But the wipes will fit nicely in your wallet_." She drew a smiley face and signed her name. He grinned and called out, "Cynthia! What's the name of the florist you use when Harv pisses off Marci?"


	4. Cheers!

**_Author's Note: A short little update to help us all get to know Abby and Wade a little bit better. Enjoy!_**

* * *

It was 9 AM Monday morning and Abby had already been at the office for hours, she had a new international client who liked to have conference calls first thing in the morning, his time. So, at 5 AM, Abby dragged herself into the office, being forced to skip the coffee shop and make a pot of coffee in the office. She really wanted to see Wade this morning, but alas, her client kept sending emails demanding immediate replies. So, she had to settle for sending Fred a text message begging him to bring in breakfast. The only silver lining was that by noon, her client would be done for the day and she could head home early.

Shortly after Fred deposited a bagel with cream cheese and an XL latte on her desk, her cell phone started buzzing, she didn't really have time right now to chat, but the damned thing wouldn't stop buzzing. She gave in and grabbed it and saw messages from her two best girls demanding an emergency lunch date, someone had news to share. Abby smiled, it had been far too long since the girls hung out, she tapped out a reply, _"Can we meet at 1:00? Text me the place, swamped this morning. See you later!"_

By lunch time, Abby was running on fumes, she was glad that her friends selected the diner, at least she could chug coffee to get her through the rest of the day. "Freddy, I'm done for the day, can you hold down the fort?"

"Abs, you gotta tell that crazy Frenchman that you simply cannot work on Paris time. This is New York! Doesn't the world revolve around us?"

Abby laughed, "Fred, Monsieur Beaumont is paying handsomely for our time, I will gladly come in at 5 AM once week in order to keep him happy. Besides, now I don't have to rush through lunch with the girls!"

Dani and Savanah were already waiting in the diner when Abby rushed through the door, she slid into the booth with her lifelong friends and ordered a coffee. Dani was still in her powder blue scrubs and Savanah was rocking a trendy leather mini skirt and deep purple blouse. "Hey Ladies! Man, it has been far too long since we did this!"

"Yeah," Dani said nodding her head, "remember when we did this once a week?"

"Heck, remember girls' night out at the club?!" Savanah added, "Now those were the days."

"Remember when Abs drank beer instead of coffee?" Dani said laughing as Abby chugged her coffee black and motioned for the waitress to just leave the whole pot.

"What? I had to be in at 5 AM for an international client!"

"Oooooo, fancy!" the girls said in unison.

"Now, enough small talk," Savanah said pulling out her iPad and plopping it in the middle of the table, "Abs, spill it, and we don't mean your coffee."

"Hey! That's not funny," she said pouting, "but really, what are you talking about?"

Dani just pointed at the screen on Savanah's iPad, Abby read the headline on TMZ and turned beat red, "New York's New Power Couple" screamed across the page with a bunch of candid shots from the cocktail party on Friday, one of her and Wade standing arm in arm near the elevator, one of them leaving together, her with Wade's jacket around her shoulders, and one of Wade holding the car door open for her.

"Oh my god," she whispered, "This is insane."

"Insane is that you didn't even tell us you were dating New York's most eligible bachelor!" Dani said tossing her long braid over her shoulder.

"You guys, it was only our second date! I didn't want to jinx it. Please don't be offended. And really, I was going to that cocktail party anyway, so we went up the elevator together and he drove me home."

Savanah rolled her eyes, "Please. There has to be more to it than that… We want to know everything."

"Everything?" Abby asked.

"Oh yes, you can't hold back with us, missy," Dani chuckled.

"After we order, though? Right?" Abby asked looking at the waitress. She laughed as her friends groaned, "OK, I'll give you a preview – Jaguar XF 3.0, black, leather seats, built in everything."

Savanah whistled, "Well, at least we know this one won't be using you as a sugar mamma."

"I'll toast to that," Dani said raising her iced tea glass.

"Cheers!" The three girls said in unison.

* * *

Cynthia booked appointments with three new clients as a result of Friday's cocktail party, and for once, Harvey wasn't popping TUMS.

"Wade, you are brilliant," he said barging into Wade's office.

"Well, that's a given," he said not looking up from his computer, "What are you finally giving me credit for this time?"

"Friday night scored us three new clients. Going with Abigail DiNardo as your date was brilliant strategy."

"Harvey, you have three seconds to take that back."

"Or what? You'll call mum and tell on me?"

"I'm dead serious Harvey. Take it back now."

"Oh, please, are you trying to tell me that you actually like her?"

"Yes Harvey. I actually like her. She's smart, she's funny, she's sexy as hell and she's the clumsiest person I have ever met in my life. I will not use a woman just to get more clients. I would expect you to know me better than that." Wade glared at his brother waiting for his apology, when Harvey didn't respond, Wade shut down his laptop and started packing his bag. "I'll be working from home the rest of the day. If you want my charming presence at these client meetings, you better get your head out of your ass."

Half an hour later, Wade parked his baby in his garage and was walking into his kitchen when his cell phone rang, he was still furious with his idiot brother and almost didn't answer, but he relented and looked at the screen. "Abby! Hello love, I missed you this morning."

"I missed you too. I'm sorry, I have this client in Paris and he's a pain in my behind."

Wade refrained from commenting on how gorgeous her behind is and kept it classy, "Well, I hope you charge him extra for that."

"Of course! Abigail DiNardo doesn't get up at 5 AM for a regular flat rate. But really, I called to thank you for these flowers, they are beautiful."

"Well, I had to thank you for the Shout Wipes somehow."

"Sooooo, I don't suppose you look at the gossip sites?"

"Not usually, love. Should I be?"

"Well, my friends informed me that our pictures are all over TMZ."

"Oh, that's nothing new for me. My mum will be thrilled to see me with an upstanding young lady."

Abby snickered, "Heehee, you said mum, that's so cute. But why were on TMZ?"

"I blame it on that dreadful New York magazine, they named me New York City's most eligible bachelor and then TMZ's cameras started following me around. I haven't seen them in a while, figured they got bored when that actress trashed her hotel room and ran through Times Square in her undies."

Abby giggled again and Wade grinned, he loved to hear her laugh. "Abby, have dinner with me tomorrow night."

"I'd like that. But on one condition."

"Oh? What's that?" he asked nervously.

"Please wear all black."

He laughed, "Done. As long as you let me pick you up this time."

"Deal, pick me up at my place at 7:00."

Wade disconnected to call to see a text message from his brother, "_I'm sorry little bro. I won't make fun of you and Abby anymore. Please bring all of your charm to the meeting tomorrow at 10 AM."_

_"I'll be there. But I am still telling mum on you."_


	5. Date Night Disaster

Abby looked at the new shoes she bought on her way home from the office and started to doubt herself. The heels were much higher than she was used to wearing, but Wade was much taller than the men she was used to dating. She was tired of getting a stiff neck after a few minutes of chatting. She was wearing a shiny black shirt and a purple silk blouse that passed Fred's approval for evening date wear and these heels would look super cute. She slipped them on and looked at herself in the full length mirror, her legs looked amazing, and her ankles looked wobbly… she debated until she heard the doorman on the intercom, requesting permission to allow a Mr. Wade Barrett to go up to the penthouse. She grabbed her wristlet purse, which did not meet Fred's approval, he wanted her to use a clutch, but what Fred doesn't know won't hurt him, and went to meet Wade at the door.

The elevator doors opened and Wade was greeted by the sight of Abby leaning against her open door. He looked her up and down and grinned, "Good evening, love. You look gorgeous."

"Thanks! So do you, but you promised to wear black," she said pouting.

"Well, you see love, I was decked out in all black, but I looked like the bloody grim reaper, so I hope you'll accept my apologies and join me for dinner even though I am wearing a blue shirt?"

Abby tried to keep a straight face, but failed miserably and dissolved into a laughing fit. Wade took two long strides across the hallway and pulled her close for a hug. He pecked her lips and looked down at her, she was taller, "You are taller than normal tonight."

She blushed, "I bought new shoes. I'm too short."

He backed up and looked down at her feet, frowning a little, "Are you sure about those? I mean…"

She put her hands on her hips and glared at him, "You mean what?"

"Nothing, nothing at all, they are perfect. Your legs look great," he added his eyes darkening with lust, "really great."

She smiled and turned to lock her door, "_and your ass looks great, too_" he added to himself.

Wade somehow managed to keep his hands to himself in the elevator and put his arm around Abby's waist as they walked past the doorman, Abby waved and he wished them a good evening.

"Burt let me leave my car right in front," Wade said clicking the locks open.

"Burt is my favorite doorman," Abby said sincerely, "He's just so nice, and most people here don't even deserve it."

Wade chuckled, he knew the type, this part of the city was filled with snooty trust fund babies that didn't know the value of respect. He held the passenger door open for Abby and turned around just in time to see her trip over the curb and twist her ankle. She went down in a heap on the sidewalk before Wade could scoop her up. Burt came running out of the lobby, "Ms. DiNardo, are you alright? Should I call an ambulance?"

Abby's face was tomato red, "I'm fine, thank you, both of you, thanks." She leaned against Wade's body and straightened her skirt and pushed her hair out of her face, "Really, I'm fine, I just tweaked my ankle a little bit." Both men looked at her skeptically.

"See if you can put some weight on it, Ms. DiNardo," Burt said. Wade nodded and watched cautiously as she let go of him and tried to put pressure on her foot. As soon as she wobbled, he grabbed her again.

"No need to call an ambulance, Burt, I'll drive Abby to the emergency room and stay with her until she is released." Wade tucked her into the passenger seat and removed her high heels, handing them to Burt, "Do me a favor and keep these away from her, huh?"

Burt offered to run up to her apartment and grab another pair of shoes for her, but she politely declined. By the time Wade had walked around the car and slid in behind the wheel, her eyes were tearing up, the pain was intense, she should have asked Burt for an ice pack. Wade squeezed her knee, "Don't worry, love, we'll have you patched up in no time."

"But our dinner!" she said pathetically.

"No worries, we will still have a delicious dinner."

A few minutes later they were outside the ER, Wade started to carry Abby inside but she protested, "I can hobble in."

"Oh no, you can't." Wade signaled to the orderly standing near the door and came over with a wheelchair. "You go get yourself checked in, I'll park and be back as fast as I can."

Wade did something he never thought he would ever do, he parked his baby in the first open spot he found, between a beat-up old Ford and an ancient Jeep. He rubbed the hood and silently apologized to her for her horrid surroundings before hurrying back into the ER. He found Abby still in the wheelchair, only with her a clip board and a giant ice pack on her foot, he brought the paper work up to the main desk and settled down next to her in an ugly orange chair.

"I ruined our date," she said. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't worry, love, look at it this way, now we have tons of time to get to know each other."

As much as Abby didn't want to admit it, Wade was right, before she knew it she was wheeled off for x-rays, where she assured the technicians countless times that she was NOT pregnant and back in a room with Wade again. The ER doctor came in a few moments later and placed her X-rays on the lighted board.

"Well, Ms. DiNardo, I have good news and I have bad news," he said cheerily. "The good news is that your ankle is not broken, although it is severely sprained."

Abby shrugged, "No biggie, I've done that tons of times, just gotta wrap it and deal with crutches for a few days, right?"

The doc shook his head, "You didn't let me finish. The bad news is that you have stress fractures of the second and third metatarsals of your foot." He pointed to the thin lines along the foot on her x-ray. "Seems like they've been there for a while, have you been experiencing any pain?"

Abby shook her head slowly, "A little, but I just figured it was from all the walking I do. Or I tripped on the train a couple times…"

"Well, I'm going to need to you stay off it for a week, and then take it easy for about 2-3 more weeks. I'm going to set you up with a removable short-leg fracture brace shoe, so you'll be able to move around, but don't fall into a false sense of security, you still need to stay off it and keep it elevated as much as possible."

The doctor filled out the discharge paperwork and gave Abby a prescription for some mild painkillers in case she needed them. Wade excused himself to make a phone call and pull the car around to the front exit.

"Alright, love, I'm going to take care of dinner while you call your girls and Fred and tell them what happened," Wade said as he slid into a parking spot in front of George's Greek Café. Abby started to object when he placed a soft kiss on her lips, "Your phone has been buzzing nonstop, you were supposed to give updates by now, weren't you?"

Abby felt her face flush for the millionth time since Wade picked her up earlier this evening, she nodded and pulled her phone out of her purse. _"Nice ass,"_ she thought as she watched him walk into the restaurant before unlocking her phone and firing off a few text messages.

* * *

"Are your friends done making fun of you?" Wade asked half an hour later as they were settled on Abby's couch with take-out containers of lamb shish kebob, Greek salad, rice pilaf and hummus spread out on the coffee table.

Abby shook her head and swallowed the last of the luscious lamb before replying , "Oh no, making fun of me is a full time job, Dani and Savanah just took a break to put their kids to bed and Fred is at the movies."

"You are a good sport. And you have sauce on your chin," he said leaning over to wipe her face with a napkin. He chuckled, "You are adorable when you blush."

Abby just opened and closed her mouth a few times like a fish out of water, her heart hammering in her chest. She pushed her hair behind her ear and Wade laughed again, he trailed his finger gently down the side of her neck, "You blush from the top of your head all the way down to your neck."

"It's a curse," she whispered.

"Not at all," he said, his lips against her ear, "I like to think that the more you blush, the more you fancy me." He cupped the back of her head and leaned in to kiss her, softly as first, not wanting to ruin it like he did the last time. She rested her palm against his chest, gripping his shirt as she tipped her head back and leaned into the kiss. He cautiously swiped at the seam of her lips with his tongue and almost jumped for joy when she parted her lips for him. He slipped his tongue into her mouth as she ran her palms up his chest and across his shoulders, circling her arms around his neck. He pulled her close and kissed her his big hands caressing her back while he slowly explored her mouth with his tongue. She pressed herself against him until she felt her leg sliding off the pillow on the coffee table where Wade had propped it up surrounded with ice packs. She tried to ignore it, until her foot hit the floor, the half melted ice packs landing on top of it, sending shooting pains up her leg.

She yelped and uttered a few choice, and highly unladylike words, as Wade leaned back against the couch and tried to catch his breath. "I'm sorry. Pretend you didn't hear that!"

Wade smiled, "It's quite alright, my mum has said much worse. Besides, you need to get some rest." He picked up the ice packs and winked her, "Shall I help you get into bed, love?"

She covered her face in her hands and took a few deep breaths, "No thanks, I think I'll be fine."

"Alright, then, if you're sure?" She nodded, her face reddening again, "I'll just take out the trash for you. Thank you for another very interesting evening."

"At least I didn't spill anything on you."

"I'd rather a few stains on my shirt, than have you get broken."

"I'm going to remember you said that!"

He laughed, "I'm sure you will! Goodnight Abby. Call me tomorrow if you need anything."

"Goodnight, Wade. Thank you for everything."

Wade let himself out and waved goodnight to Burt at the main desk. "Thanks for the sandwich, Mr. Barrett that was mighty nice of you."

"Well, you are Abby's favorite. Have a good evening."

* * *

Abby hobbled to her bedroom, threw her clothes on the floor and swallowed a few Advil, texted Fred that she wouldn't be in tomorrow and to email her whatever needed to be done, she'd do as much from home as possible. Then she drifted off to sleep thinking about Wade's hands on her back and his lips against her ear and how nice it would have been for him to help her out of her skirt and into her bed.


	6. Making Promises

Abby woke up early the next morning to shooting pains through her foot and ankle, she laid in bed whimpering for a while before reaching for the bottle of Advil next to her bed. She swallowed 4 pills and wished she had filled that prescription from the ER. She stumbled out of bed and pulled on a pair of cutoff shorts and a hoodie before making a giant pot of coffee and arranging herself at the kitchen table with her laptop, cell phone, coffee mug and an oversized pillow to prop her foot up on. It was 10 AM and Fred hadn't sent her much to work on, so she decided to bite the bullet and call her mom.

"Abby! What's wrong?"

"Jeeze, Ma, why does something have to be wrong? Why can't I just call to say hi?"

"Because its 10 AM on a weekday, Abigail."

Abby rolled her eyes and massaged her temples, "Abigail Maria DiNardo, don't you dare roll your eyes at your mother!"

"But Mom! I wasn't!"

"Spit it out, Abigail, why are you calling me when you should be working?"

"Well, as a matter of fact, I was calling to tell you that I went on a date last night. With a very successful and very attractive business man. We've been seeing each other for a few months now."

"And you are pregnant?"

"MOM! No! Why do you have to go there?"

"Again, because its 10 AM on a weekday and all of this could have waited until our weekly Sunday morning phone call. Now, tell me the real reason why you called."

Abby took a big gulp of coffee before giving in to her mom, "Alright, so, he's tall, like really super tall and I'm barely tall enough to ride the roller coasters at Six Flags, so I bought these really cute high heels and they were perfect in the store, I walked around in them and everything. But as soon as I stepped off the curb in front of my apartment building, I went down like a lead balloon and we spent the whole date in the ER. I broke my foot in two places and sprained my ankle."

Her mother sighed and Abby could just picture her shaking her head sadly, "I knew I should have signed you up for ballet, maybe you would have learned some grace. But you wanted to take gymnastics with Dani and Savanah."

"Yeah, that's where I suffered my first broken bone," Abby said rubbing her forearm remembering how embarrassed she was that day so many years ago. "Sorry mom, but I don't think ballet would have helped either. I'm just flat out clumsy."

"Well, sweetie, just try to keep off it and let it heal properly this time. Do you want me to come up and stay with you until you are off the crutches?"

"NO!" she shouted, "I mean, that's OK mom, I'll be fine, really, I'm used to this by now."

"Would it be so horrible to have your mother visit you, Abigail?" her mom asked sternly.

"No, mom, of course not, its just that I'm working from home and I really wouldn't have enough time to spend with you. As soon as I can drive again, I'll come down and see you and Dad."

"I know you will, Abby, take care of yourself, OK? And try not to scare your new boy away."

Abby grumbled under her breath, _I do not scare the boys…._

"What was that, Abigail?"

"Nothing mom, I'll talk to you on Sunday, OK? Give Dad a kiss for me."

She disconnected the call and immediately sent a text to Dani and Savanah – _Do I scare men away? Am I scary?_

She sipped her coffee and answered some work emails while she waited for her girls to get back to her, Savanah replied first.

S: _You were talking to your mom again, huh?_

D: _Oh sweetie, look at what you've put Wade through and he's totally not scared of you._

A: _Yeah! He said I'm cute when I blush!_

S: _Oh lord, lol, he's in deep. You got him hooked, Abs._

D: _Gotta go, ladies, I have a patient._

S: _Same! I have a meeting. Hang in there Abs. We'll stop by at lunch time._

A: _Later girls!_

* * *

The next three hours flew by as Abby worked on her presentation for her Paris client, it was amazing how quickly she got stuff done without her phone ringing and Fred flying around the office. Before she knew it her presentation was complete and both Dani and Savanah were setting up wraps and fruit salad for their lunch.

Abby hobbled into the living room and smiled approvingly at their healthy lunch spread while holding up her super cute, yet deadly, high heels, "Alright ladies, these shoes need to be OUT of my closet. Who wants them?"

Dani snorted, "Yeah, I'll put those on the next time I take the twins to the park, I'm sure they'll be perfect for digging through the sandbox."

"Those are simply divine, Abs," Savanah said as she kicked off her sleek pumps and slipped them on. "I'll definitely put these to good use."

Abby sighed sadly, "Sav, your legs look even more amazing in those shoes than mine did."

"These will be perfect for Friday night. Roman has a big dinner with some new clients."

"Hey, did you ever ask Ro if he knows Wade? I mean, they are sort of in the same business so their paths may have crossed."

Savanah nodded as she chewed on her tuna wrap, "Yup, I did. They've worked together lots. The Barrett brothers use Roman's firm for their local landscape architecture. He's been trying to get involved in some of their resort work too."

"So, is our girl's heart safe with the big Brit?" Dani asked.

"Dunno. He's got a reputation for playing the field, but who knows, maybe the right woman just didn't come along yet. Or maybe he's a heart breaker and a giant jerk. Either way, be careful Abs."

"As soon as I can walk without the crutches, we'll set up a little gathering so you can two can scope him out. I can't be around the kids on these crutches."

"If he can handle us with our husbands and our kids, and you spilling things all the time, he can handle anything," Dani said laughing. "Now stop picking all the strawberries out of the fruit salad and save some for the rest of us."

"Have you heard from your man at all today?"

Abby giggled like a little girl and nodded her head, "he called me just before you guys got here. Offered to bring me lunch."

"Oh crap, she giggled, Dani, she's already too far gone."

"I did not giggle!"

"Oh yes you did," Dani said, "That was the girliest giggle I've ever heard."

"Rude. Anyway, he's got a dinner meeting with a client, so he's going to stop by for lunch tomorrow."

The girls finished their lunch and helped Abby get settled back at her kitchen table. "Hey Abs, you have two weeks to get off those crutches, you promised to babysit the twins for our anniversary. Dean actually put in for the night off."

Abby knew what a big deal it was for Dean to get a night off, he was a detective for the NYPD and there was always something happening. The only time Dean was off limits for work was their anniversary, the twins' birthday and Christmas. "Even if I am on crutches, I will watch the kids. I'll have my mom come help if I have to."

"You better! Dean made reservations at that new steak house and I am planning on some surf and turf."

Abby laughed, "Hell, if anyone earned their annual steak and lobster dinner, its you, Dan!"

"Damn skippy! Call me if you need anything, OK?" Dani gave her a hug and caught up to Savanah by the elevator. Both girls warned Abby to be a good girl and follow the ER doctor's instructions.

"I will! I promise," she said.

Abby spent the rest of the afternoon getting caught up on emails and proofing memos from Fred. Once all her work was done, she propped her foot up on the coffee table in the living room and put on the TV. She was starting to get ansty, she was never home for this long and this was only the first day. She promised her best friends and her mother that she would do as she was told and stay off her foot for one entire week. Maybe she could convince Fred to sneak her out of the apartment for a movie or something, surely sitting in the movie theater would be OK, right?

* * *

One week later, Abby left her apartment for the first time since she got back from the ER, Fred drove her to the doctor to get her foot x-rayed again. Abby held her breath and crossed her fingers as the doctor reviewed the results.

* * *

"Seriously Harv, the only way we are going to deal this deal is if one of us goes there and meets with the crusty old bastard in person," Wade said to his brother as he downed the last of his coffee.

Harvey massaged his temples and eyed the bottle of TUMS on his desk, "I can't go this week, I have that doctor's appointment you and Marci have been on me to make. It's going to have to be you."

"Alright then, you take care of yourself," he replied sincerely, "We've been worried about you for a while now. I'll get with Cynthia and make my travel arrangements."

Harvey's stomach problems have been getting progressively worse in the last few months. Wade was relieved that his sister-in-law's nagging finally sunk in and his big brother was going to a doctor. Hopefully, it was a simple fix, maybe he needed to go gluten free or something.

Just as Wade and Cynthia booked a flight out to Miami for later that evening, Wade's cell phone rang, he ginned as he saw Abby's name flash across the screen. "Hello, love. What news do you have for me?"

"WADE! I'm off the crutches! No stupid boot! I can walk normally again!"

"Well, that is excellent news. See what happens when you follow doctor's orders?"

Abby grumbled, turns out Wade was just as bad as the girls and her mother. "Let's celebrate tonight! Let's go out for dinner. My treat!"

"First of all, love, there is not a snowball's chance in hell that I will ever let you pay for dinner," he said.

"Wade, its 2014, its perfectly normal for a woman to pay for dinner for herself and her date."

"We can have this debate another time, Abs. For now, I'm afraid I've got some bad news, I have to fly out to Miami tonight to meet with a client."

"Awww, tonight? But Wade, I haven't let my apartment in an entire week! When will you be back?"

"I know and I'm sorry, but this has to be done, and Harvey can't go. This deal is riding on my good looks and wit."

Abby snorted, "Really? You are banking on that?"

"Hey now, you better hope I'm witty enough to make some crabby old man happy, because I won't be back until I have a signed contract."

Abby pouted silently on the other end of the phone, "Well, keep me posted, OK?"

"You got it love. I'll text and call as often as I can."

"Good luck." Abby disconnected the call and frowned at her phone. Well, that left just one option, she opened a bottle of wine, poured a large glass and set off to take a long overdue bubble bath.


	7. Surprise!

**A/N: So yeah, I know its been FOREVER since I updated these two but it wasn't for lack of trying, I swear! I truly hope that this little chapter was worth the wait and that you all haven't forgotten about Wade and Abby.**

* * *

Abby reviewed her mental checklist, it was Friday night at 6 PM and she was expecting Dean and Dani to drop off the twins in less than an hour. If anyone deserved a pair of rambunctious little boys, it was Dean Ambrose! Jonathan and Joseph were 7 years old and always finding new and interesting ways to get in trouble, but they loved their mama with all their little hearts and sticky fingers, so she supposed it all worked out in the end. She had dinner, Legos, some movies, chocolate chip cookies in the oven and plenty of popcorn, as well as sleeping bags and nightlights, this was no big deal!

Abby was putting the cookies on a rack to cool when her cell phone rang, she answered without even looking at the screen, assuming it was Dani, "Hey woman! I'm all ready for your little monsters!"

"Abs, its Dean…."

"Dean? Is everything OK?" Abby could hear one or both of the twins crying in the background, "Are those sirens? Are you driving? What happened? Are the boys hurt? Is Dani OK? SPEAK TO ME DEAN!"

"Jeebus Christmas, woman, take a breath and let me speak!"

"Well speak fast, Ambrose."

"Jon was throwing a softball around and it bounced off Joey's face. So, his nose is spurting blood all over the place when he decided to get even by punching his brother square in the mouth. Jon's mouth is all bloody and there are teeth missing. Pretty sure they are just baby teeth."

"Holy shit, Ambrose. So, the sirens?"

"Oh, I'm taking them to the ER, one of the perks of the job is that my car has sirens, Dani says I still owe her surf and turf, so can we take a rain check on the free babysitting?"

Abby laughed, typical, both their kids have blood pouring out of their faces and they are both cool as cucumbers. "Of course, Dean. I'll always take the boys for a few hours. Keep me posted, OK? Good luck at the ER."

"Sure thing, talk to you soon."

Abby shook her head, never a dull moment in the Ambrose house. She packed up the sleeping bags and put them back in the closet when she heard her buzzer. Whoever it was, Burt let them come right up, so it had to be either Fred or Savanah, but they both knew she was babysitting tonight. She pulled her door open and gasped, Wade was standing outside her door with a bottle of wine and a bouquet of flowers looking sexy as hell in his dress pants and button down shirt. She, on the other hand, was dressed to crawl around on the floor with two 7 year olds, she flushed as he looked her up and down and grinned.

"Surprise, love, let's celebrate your healed foot and my signed contract."

"Sure, come on in. I was supposed to be babysitting tonight, but Dani's twins got into a little disagreement that landed them both in the ER with mouths full of blood."

Wade followed her into her apartment and shamelessly checked her out, she looked incredibly hot in her leggings, tank top and hoodie with her hair tied back in a high ponytail. He could tell he caught her completely by surprise. "The kids gonna be OK?"

"Oh yeah, Dean, Dani's husband, didn't seem the slightest bit concerned. They are used to it by now, the boys are always getting into some sort of trouble. Last time they had to go to the ER because Joey shoved a quarter up Jon's nose just to see if it would fit. There was also an incident involving a Lego…"

Wade chucked, "Brothers. Sounds exactly like Harv and me when we were kids. Should we go grab some dinner? Italian or Japanese – you pick."

"You know, we don't have to go out. I was planning on cooking for the boys. How do you feel about sloppy joes, tater tots and carrot sticks?"

He pecked her lips and said "you had me as soon as you said tater tots."

She grinned and raised her eyebrow at him, "You know, its not a good idea to eat sloppy joes when you are all dressed up."

"My suitcase is still in my trunk, I'll grab it and change to match the dress code." He winked at her and stole cookie from the cooling rack on his way out.

Less than 15 minutes later Wade strolled out of the bathroom wearing a grey vneck tshirt and black work out pants, he was about to grab another cookie when he caught sight of Abby bending over to slide the tater tots into the oven. He froze dead in his tracks, his eyes locked on her perfect backside, his hands ached to grab her and knead her soft flesh.

Abby was humming to herself as she moved through her little kitchen getting dinner ready. She was incredibly lucky to have such a decent sized kitchen in a NYC apartment, she looked long and hard for the perfect apartment and this was her paradise, her kitchen was just a small part of why she loved her home so much. She reached up to get her skillet from the rack over her counter when suddenly Wade was standing directly behind her, pulling the pot down for her, his hard body pressed against her back.

"Anything else I can get for you, love?" he asked wrapping one arm around her waist, his palm pressing against her stomach, as he laid the pot on the counter.

Abby took a few deep breaths as her heart raced in her chest, she licked her lips and nodded her head towards the refrigerator, "I have a few cold beers on the bottom shelf," she said cursing herself when she heard how shaky her voice sounded.

"Works for me, beer and tater tots go perfect together," he grabbed two bottles from the frig and popped them open. "Cheers," he said handing one to Abby.

She took a long sip of the ice cold beer before pushing up her sleeves and getting started on the sloppy joes, she tried not to let Wade's overwhelming presence distract her. She didn't realize until now how big he truly was as he sat at her kitchen table with his long legs stretched out in front of him.

"So tell me about your trip," she said as she browned the meat and added seasonings to the pan.

"Oh, the usual, nothing exciting. Just had to break out the ole' Barrett charm to convince this crusty old white dude that Harv and I are the perfect people to turn his empty lot into luxury townhouses."

Within minutes they were seated at her kitchen table slurping sloppy joes and dipping tater tots in ketchup. She had never seen Wade in short sleeves before and was totally flummoxed by his toned forearms, his biceps and the ink peeking out from his shirt sleeves. She was about to ask about his tattoos, when a giant clump of meat fell out of her sandwich and landed square in the middle of her hoodie.

"Well, shit," she said dabbing at the stain with her napkin. Normally she would have pulled the hoodie off, sprayed with some Shout and inhaled the rest of her dinner in just her tank top, but she was incredibly self-conscious with Wade sitting next to her. "At least I got myself this time," she said blushing.

"The night is still young, love," he said passing her another napkin.

Abby was standing by the sink filling the pot with soapy water to soak overnight when Wade came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist and peppered kisses down the side of her neck. She shivered and leaned back against him as he reached around her and turned off the water.

"Tell me, love," he said against her ear, "why are you still wearing this hoodie."

"Umm… I… well… you see," she said turning around and resting her palms on his shoulders, "I'm only wearing a little cami under this thing…"

He flashed her a wicked grin, "Even more of a reason to get rid of it."

"But, I'm cold?"

"Oh, I'm sure I can keep you warm," he said toying with her zipper.

Abby licked her lips and nodded her head, holding her breath as he slowly pulled her zipper down and pushed the hoodie over her shoulders, letting it fall to the floor behind her. She felt her stomach tense up and goose pimples raise up on her arms, "You really are cold, love," he said softly rubbing her arms with his massive hands. She muttered something about the tile floor being cold, so he scooped her up bridal style and carried her into the living room and sat on the couch with her across his lap. "You aren't just cold, talk to me Abs, what's bothering you?"

She rested her head on his shoulder and sighed, "Its just been a really long time since I've felt this way about a man and the last time I let someone in, it cost me big time."

"Abby, I have no intentions of hurting you in anyway," he said softly, "I've been mesmerized by you since the first time I saw you."

She felt her face flush, "You mean the first time I spilled something on you…"

Wade took a deep breath and decided that it was time to come clean, "Actually, that wasn't your fault, it was mine. I noticed you weeks before then, you just always looked like you were in such a rush that I was nervous about bothering you."

Abby looked at him in shock, "The great Wade Barrett was nervous?"

He nodded his head, "So, my great plan was to walk your way, while casually looking down at my phone and gently bump into you. Needless to say, it didn't play out like I intended it to."

Abby just stared at him in shock, "You had no idea that I was the clumsiest person in the city! Your nervousness cost you a very expensive white shirt!"

He chuckled, "Yes, that was some dry cleaning bill, but it was well worth it."

She shook her head and laughed, "I can't believe you had such little faith in the Barrett charm!"

"Oh, so you are telling me that if I just walked up to you and said hello that you would have immediately fallen head over heels for me?"

"Hell no!," she said still laughing, "I would have ignored you and rushed out of the cafe to get to my office to prep for my meeting."

"Imagine my surprise when I found out that the girl with the giant purse who spills coffee on complete strangers was the greatest business woman in the city."

"Oh stop," she said blushing again, "And here I am sitting with the city's most eligible bachelor of 2014 according to all the tabloids."

"Well, love, I do believe that makes us a power couple!"

She looked up at him, her eyes twinkling, "Well then, let's take over this city!"

"Now that's an offer that should be accepted with a kiss," he said, his eyes dark with lust. He cupped the back of her head and pressed his lips against hers as she circled her arms around his shoulders. She moaned softly and parted her lips, he eagerly slipped his tongue in her mouth, she tasted like beer and ketchup and he fell for even more as she pressed her breasts against his chest and finally let her defenses down, completely melting into his arms.


	8. Surprise! (part 2)

_**A/N: Ok, I don't know why this was so difficult to write, but it was, so feel free to lay on the praise b/c holy hell did I have to work on this one... Anyway, now its done, I have two partially written updates for this story, so get ready for more Wade and Abby!**_

* * *

Before she knew it, Wade had pinned Abby to the couch, his hands all over her body, he kneaded her ass, ran his fingers through her hair, snuck under her shirt and palmed her breasts. She tangled her hand in his hair, her legs wrapped around him as her other hand travelled up and down his muscular back. She kissed him back, thrusting her tongue into his mouth earning a manly moan as he let her take control of the kiss. She grabbed fistfuls of his shirt, trying to yank it over his head without pulling her lips away from his. He smirked against her mouth and sucked her tongue before kissing her chin and making his way down her neck, nipping her skin and leaving hot open mouthed kisses that made her stomach flutter with desire. He pulled away from her and tugged his shirt over his head with one hand, tossing it aside and pulling her little tank top off and adding it to the pile of clothes on her living room floor. His eyes darkened with lust as he looked at Abby underneath him, panting, her cheeks flushed and her lips puffy, the beginning signs of whisker burn showing on her sensitive neck. "Beautiful, Abby, you are so beautiful," he muttered lightly tracing the edges of her pale pink satin bra making even more goosebumps pop up all over her exposed skin. She moaned softly and trailed her hands up and down his arms, tracing the lines of one of his tattoos, she gasped in both shock and pleasure when he pinched her nipples. She pulled him back to her and kissed his lips again, savoring the way his bare skin felt against hers, his hands roamed her body again as he tried to memorize every curve, she was even more delectable than he ever imagined. He toyed with the clasp on her bra before pulling away and looking down at her again.

"Are you sure? Do you want to keep going?" he asked softly.

She nodded her head, "I'm sure."

He ran a hand through his hair, making it stick out, "Abby, I, uhh.. I don't have... "

"Condoms?" she asked.

He nodded his head and untangled his legs from hers, sitting up on the couch and mentally kicking himself, for someone who wanted this so badly, he was sorely unprepared. He was surprised to hear Abby giggling next to him, he grinned in spite of himself, "What's so funny, love?"

She patted his knee and ran her hand up his thigh and boldly groped at his bulging crotch, making his eyes roll back in his head. She leaned over and kissed his neck, "I have a brand new box in my bedroom," she whispered, nipping at his earlobe.

He flashed her his trademark wicked grin, "Well then, lead the way love," he said pulling her off the couch. She took his hand and led him to her room, knowing he was staring at her ass, so she put a little extra sway in her hips. "You sassy little thing," he said hoarsely.

As soon as they were in her room, Wade picked her up and laid her on her bed, unclasping her bra and fastening his lips against her gorgeous breast. She moaned loudly and wrapped her arms around him, digging her nails into his shoulders as he sucked and nipped at her. She panted wildly as he peppered kisses across her chest and down her belly, he hooked both thumbs into the waistband of her leggings and looked up at her, his pale eyes meeting hers and silently asking permission again, she nodded her head and raised her hips, allowing him to peel her leggings and undies off. She bit down on her lip as he ran his hands up her legs, spreading her thighs and slowly dragging one long finger between her folds. With his eyes locked onto hers, he slipped one finger inside her and pumped slowly in and out watching watching her eyelids flutter. He added another finger and grazed her clit with his thumb making her body shutter, he laid down next to her, gently fingering her and kissing her arms and chest as she moaned softly. She trailed her hands down his body, tracing his ab muscles and toyed with the waistband of his pants, she wrapped one arm around his shoulders, pulling him down to kiss his lips while she slipped her other hand down his pants and wrapped her hand around his dick, stroking him slowly. He growled against her lips and started thrusting his fingers faster, her juices coating his fingers as she stroked him. He finally couldn't wait anymore, he pulled away from her and yanked his pants off, she nodded her head towards her night table, her eyes locked on his erection, her whole body tingling in anticipation. Wade opened the drawer and tore open the box of condoms, pulling out one and quickly covering himself, he joined Abby on the bed again and settled himself between her thighs, kissing her lips softly and cupping her head as he slowly slid himself inside her. She let out a soft gasp and moaned his name as he filled her, her eyes closing as he wrapped his arms around her and waited for her to adjust to him. He pulled out slowly and gently thrust back into her wet core, she raised her hips to meet him and opened her eyes to see him gazing down at her, his eyes filled with emotion. She dug her nails into his shoulders as he moved inside her, long slow strokes in and out as she wrapped her legs around his hips, she kissed his shoulders and dragged her teeth across his collarbone. He groaned and started moving faster, thrusting hard into her making her moan louder each time. He leaned back and propped one leg on his shoulder, pounding into her and rubbing her clit with his thumb. She gripped his forearms, holding him as tightly as she could as he filled her over and over, thrusting into her, each stroke harder and faster than the one before it. He was panting wildly, looking down at his girl, her lips parted as she gasped, her head tossed back exposing her gorgeous neck and her hair a tangled mess on the pillow, he didn't even remember her taking it out of the ponytail and he didn't care. He dropped her leg back onto the bed and leaned over her, kissing her breasts and her neck and every part of her he could reach. She dragged her nails up and down his back and ran her hands through his hair, as her body started trembling under him. He wrapped one arm around her waist, pulling her close to him as he slammed his cock into her over and over again, his own breathing becoming just as ragged and uncontrolled as hers. He reached between their sweaty bodies again and rubbed at her slippery clit, pinching it, making her cum hard. Her body shook against his as she buried her face against his chest, her hips still grinding against him as he thrust into her furiously, short uncoordinated strokes, until he couldn't hold himself back anymore. He held her tightly and pumped his cock into her hard and fast, unloading into the condom as her walls clamped down on him. He wrapped his arms around her, kissing her face as her body still quivered around him.

He rolled onto his side and gently slid out of her, leaving her laying on the bed, still panting while he disposed of the used condom. He laid back down and kissed her lips, wrapping his arms around her, both their hearts still racing in their chests. She rested her head on his shoulder, tracing her fingers across his chest. She sighed happily and looked up at him, kissing his lips again. He smiled at her and chuckled when she blushed.

* * *

Abby heard her phone ringing in the kitchen, she reluctantly freed herself from Wade's embrace and left him snoring holding a pillow in her place. She grabbed her robe from the hook on the back of her door and and shuffled into the kitchen to see who was calling her so early on a Saturday morning. She grabbed her phone and saw a grand total of FIVE missed calls from Dean and Dani starting very late last night and ending with the one that finally woke her up. She didn't even bother listening to the voicemails or reading the two dozen text messages they sent her, she just tapped Dani's picture and waited for her to pick up while she started making coffee.

"ABIGAIL! Where have you been," her friend shouted into the phone.

"Not so loud, I haven't had my coffee yet," she muttered.

"My kids are fine, thanks for asking," she replied sarcastically.

"Ohhhh….. I'm so sorry, I didn't have my phone near me last night and I umm…"

"You 'ummm' what?"

"So, the boys, what was the diagnosis?" She said quickly changing the subject.

"Joey has a broken nose and Jon has some stitches inside his lip," Dani said sighing, "But don't think you can change the subject so easliy, what had you so occupied that you forgot about being worried about my monsters?"

"I was soaking in a bubble bath... you know me, no phones near water…" she said with a fake laugh.

"Spill it."

"You know, the mom voice doesn't work with me."

"SPILL IT NOW," Dani said.

"Fine. Wade surprised me. He showed up at my door last night right after I hung up with Dean." Abby said watching the coffee drip, drip, drip into the pot, why did coffee always take so long?

Dani squealed, "And? More! Tell me more!"

"Ummm…. I really, don't have much more to tell at the moment," she whispered.

"OH. MY. GOD. He's still there isn't he?"

"Well…"

"OK, I'm setting up a lunch date for Monday, you will spill the beans, there is no way you can resist the both of us."

"Fine. But if its going to be an interrogation, at least let me pick the restaurant."

"No way! You always want sushi, I ain't eating anything that hasn't been cooked. And don't talk to me about tempura and teriyaki and noodle soup. No way in hell, not happening. We are going to the diner and you will get coffee and cheese fries and you will spill every last detail."

Abby looked up to see Wade leaning against the wall in her kitchen, his hair was rumbled and his workout pants were hanging low on his hips. He flashed her a wicked grin and folded his muscular arms across his chest.

"Sure thing, Dan, I'll talk to you tomorrow, bye," she disconnected the call before Dani could even respond and put her phone on airplane mode.

"Good morning, love."

"Morning, coffee is almost done."

"So you think you can slide a pillow under my hand and I won't notice that your gorgeous ass isn't next to me anymore?" he said raising an eyebrow.

"Well, my phone was ringing like crazy and then I remembered about the twins and I had to come and get it and of course Dani…. Umm… the coffee is almost ready."

Wade laughed, "Yeah, you said the coffee part already," he crossed the room in two large strides and pulled her into his arms planting a long and passionate kiss on her lips. "You are positively delightful. Now, forget the coffee and let's go back to bed."

And for the first time in her life, Abby abandoned a freshly brewed pot of coffee.


	9. The Test

Wade parked his Jag in front of Dani and Dean's house and looked over at Abby, she was fiddling with the hem of her tshirt and chewing on her bottom lip.

"What's wrong, love?" he asked as he turned off the car.

"Oh, I am just feeling a little guilty about feeding you to the wolves…"

Wade chuckled, "I'm a big boy, I can handle your overprotective friends and their husbands. And their rug rats too!" He took the cupcake carrier from Abby and put his arm around her shoulders, "I can't wait until dessert, these smelled amazing while they were baking."

"Oh please, I know you ate at least three while they were cooling," she said rolling her eyes as she got out of the car.

It was the ritual, ever since they were in high school, the boyfriend has to pass the test. Of course both Roman and Dean passed with flying colors, most of Abby's boyfriends barely scratched by with a passing mark. They walked up the driveway past Roman's shiny black Range Rover, great the gang had a pre-meeting… poor Wade had no idea what he was up against.

"Aunt Abby! Aunt Abby! AUNT ABBY!" The front door flew open and suddenly Abby was surrounded by two very sticky little boys and a lovely princess, all three fighting to hug her first. She knelt down and gave each one a hug before sending the twins in to wash their hands.

"Hello Princess Ariel, how are you today?" she asked Savanna and Roman's little girl.

"I'm just fine, Aunt Abby. Even though the smelly boys spilled grape juice on my other princess dress."

Abby laughed, "Well, a proper princess always has a change of clothes when smelly little boys are around."

"Yeah, Aunt Dani put it in the washing machine for me. Hopefully will be dry before they spill something else on me."

"Well, Princess, may I introduce you to my friend? Princess Ariel, this is Wade. Wade, I'd like to you meet Princess Ariel."

Wade knelt down and extended his hand, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Princess. You look lovely today."

Ariel's cheeks flushed as she turn and ran inside, "Mommy! Aunt Dani! HE PASSES THE TEST!"

"See? I told you there was nothing to worry about," he said giving her a quick kiss on the lips.

Roman came to the door chuckling, "Yo, Barrett, you still owe me $20 from that last poker game."

"You wish, Reigns!" he said slapping him on the back.

"I forgot you two know each other," Abby said reclaiming her cupcakes and pushing past the two giants, "Where are my girls?"

"Nice to see you too, Shrimp," Roman called after her.

Wade raised an eyebrow, "Shrimp?"

"Ha! I dare you to try it," Dean said coming around from the backyard. "Nice wheels," he added nodding towards Wade's jag.

"Barrett likes to show off for the ladies," Roman said sourly.

"Oh, a ladies man, huh?" Dean said folding his arms across his chest.

"Hey now, the car is to impress _clients_," he said quickly.

"_Clients_?" Dean said shifting into cop mode, "How about you tell me all about these _clients_ of yours?"

Roman chuckled, he debated egging Dean on, but placed his hand on his buddy's shoulder to calm him down, "Easy there Copbrose. Stick to the plan."

"The plan?" he asked, scratching his head. Roman glared at him, "Right! Yeah, the plan," he said rubbing his hands together.

* * *

Abby peered out the window cautiously, watching for any sign that Roman and Dean might try to kill her boyfriend.

"Oh, would you relax," Dani said pressing a glass of strawberry lemonade into her hand. "I made Dean leave his gun in the safe."

"Both of them?"

Savannah laughed and Dani rolled her eyes, "What, in Abby's defense, it is a valid question…"

"Yes, both of them! Do you think I'd let him walk around armed with all the kids climbing on him?" Dani said checking on the oven.

"Yeah, well, that doesn't make me feel too much better, its still two on one." She took a sip of her drink and made a face, "Too much booze, woman!"

"ooooo, you made cupcakes!" Savanna said lifting the lid on her fancy cupcake carrier, "Hey, how come there are three empty spots?"

Abby rolled her eyes, "Wade stole some off the cooling rack last night."

"He must be a keeper." Dani said.

"Yeah," Savannah added, "No one steals from the cooling rack and gets away with it."

Abby felt her face turn red, "Well, he kinda made up for it…"

"How did he make up for it Aunt Abby?" All three women spun around to see Ariel's innocent little face looking up at them.

"Ummm..." Abby stuttered

"Well…." Dani said making herself busy arranging appetizers on the plates.

"Sweetie, go make sure Uncle Dean started the grill up," Savanna said turning her daughter around and pointing her the front door.

"But mommy, Aunt Abby didn't…"

"And tell them that the appetizers are almost ready. Hurry up or the twins will eat all the mozzarella sticks," she added sternly.

Once they were alone, Abby threw a napkin at Savanna, "Put a bell on that kid or something, jeebus, she always sneaks in at the wrong time."

"Tell me about it, why do you think she doesn't have a sibling?" Savanna replied taking a sip of her lemonade.

The girls gathered up the food and carried it out to the back patio where the three men were already stretched out on lawn chairs with cold beers and peanuts talking about football. "No that's OK boys, we got it all covered. Just sit down and relax," Dani said staring a hole in her husband's skull.

Dean jumped up, tipping over his chair, and took the dishes from her hands, "I started the grill, darlin', I'll be putting the chicken and ribs on in just a few."

"Uncle Dean, don't forget my turkey burger."

"No worries, munchkin, I would never forget about you."

Just then a football came flying in their direction, Roman jumped up and caught it just before it would have knocked into the dishes. Two red faced little boys came running after it, Roman held the ball up over his head while the two boys tried to climb his legs to grab it.

"Uncle Roman! We need our ball! Come on! No fair!" they yelled.

"Jon and Joey, you settle down right now," Dani said firmly.

"Sorry Mommy," they said in unison, "We love youuuuuuu."

"I love you too, but you know the rules, no ball playing near the grill."

Abby sat down next to Wade, who was struggling not to laugh, the twins failed miserably in their attempts to look innocent. Roman finally fired the football clear across the yard and the boys went running full speed, until Jon pushed Joey into a mud puddle and caught the ball. Jon jumped up and down, cheering for himself while his brother threw a mudpie that hit him square in the chest.

Ariel rolled her eyes, "Boys are so yucky."

"That's right, princess," Roman said as he sat back down, "You stay away from those mean yucky boys."

"Daddy is my best boy! And Uncle Dean is second," she said climbing up to sit in her father's lap.

"Damnned right, kiddo!" Dean said, "Now, tell me, would you like cheese on your turkey burger?"

"Thank god I had two boys," Dani said popping a mozzarella stick in her mouth, "Could you imagine Ambrose with twin girls?"

"I'd ship them off to an all girls boarding school the second they hit puberty," he said flipping the chicken over on the grill.

Abby squeezed Wade's hand, "They are dorks, but they are my dorks."

Wade chuckled, "Well, they seem like wonderful dorks to me, love."

"I can toast to that!" Dean said raising his beer bottle.

"Uncle Dean, you'll toast to anything," Ariel said.

* * *

"I think your friends like me," Wade said later that evening as they drove back into the city.

Abby smiled, he was right, Dani and Savannah were thrilled with Wade, "Yeah, you passed the test for now."

"Don't worry, Dean still threatened to shoot my nuts off if I hurt you."

"Yeah, that's our Dean. He almost did it once too. Good thing Roman was there to subdue him…"

"Am I ready for that story?" he asked cautiously.

"Nah, I'm in a good mood, I don't want to ruin it with tales of ex-boyfriends," she said squeezing his knee. "What matters is that my girls like you, and in all honesty, you may be the first man I've ever dated who can say that."

"Well, that's cause for celebration! Are there any cupcakes left?"

Abby shook her head no and he gave her a wicked grin, "That's OK, love, I know a better way to celebrate," he said flooring the gas pedal.


	10. FOC

Abby just stared across the table at Wade with her mouth hanging open, he had just told her that he got tickets to the 3rd Annual Feed Our Children Gala scheduled for next Friday night at the Marriott Marquis.

"The 3rd Annual Feed Our Children Gala?" she repeated quietly, her voice barely a whisper.

"Yes, that's what I said, love. Is there a problem?" he asked.

A problem? A problem with The 3rd Annual Feed Our Children Gala? Oh no, of course not, it was only the organization that her scumbag exfiance Alexander James Worthington III and his bimbo arm candy Bambi had founded right after Abby caught them playing doctor on the conference room table. The memory of that day played in her head like a movie, she ran out of the office in a daze, her eyes filled with tears and hid out at her parents house for two days. When she returned to New York she found Alex's office empty, all their files gone and after several phone calls and emails, she quickly realized that more than half of their clients had also jumped ship and ran to sign on with Worthington Advertising.

"What the hell was I thinking, hiring a receptionist named Bambi…." She muttered.

"Abby? Abs? Abigail!"

She snapped back to the present to see a very confused British man staring back at her, concern clouding his pale blue eyes.

"Aww crap," she said, "Wade, I can't go, I'm kinda banned from the Feed Our Children events."

"Banned? How does someone get banned from a charity dinner?"

"Well…."

"Spill it Abs…"

Abby took a deep breath and twisted her hands in her lap, "Ok, so, the founder of FOC is my ex. My ex fiance who ran off with the tall, skinny, blonde receptionist who never spills drinks on people and can wear stilletto heels without breaking her ankles. Oh and they stole half my clients and nearly destroyed my reputation in the process."

"Oh bloody hell," he muttered.

"Yeah. I haven't seen either one of them since… _that_ day."

"_That_ day?"

"Errr, yeah, I kinda skipped a big part of the story."

Wade just nodded his head and waited, he was stunned by her reaction, he couldn't believe the transformation he witnessed simply by mentioning the gala event. Abby went from happy and laughing to hunched over and pale, he took her trembling hands in his and kissed her knuckles, "Abby, look at me love," he said softly. She raised her head and looked into his eyes, the sadness and insecurity he saw in her face was like a sucker punch to the gut. "It's the past. It won't change us, what we have together," he squeezed her hands and smiled, "Unless of course you tell me that you started making human sacrifices on your balcony to avenge the wrongs that were done to you."

She snorted and shook her head, "Although, now that you mention it, it might not be a terrible idea."

He grinned, "That's my girl! Now tell me more about this bloody wanker."

"How delightfully British," she said rolling her eyes and trying not to laugh.

"I aim to please, love."

"Ok, ok, so I met Alex when we were at NYU. I was there on a partial scholarship and was working part time to cover what my parents couldn't afford. Of course Alex's daddy had no problems covering the tuition and to this day, I don't think he got into Stern based on his intelligence."

"Hang on, you got into the NYU Stern School of Business on scholarship?" Wade asked, his voice full of both shock and admiration. He knew Abby was a smart cookie, but this was a totally different level of smart, this was genius smart.

She nodded, "And believe me, it wasn't easy. I busted my ass for what he was presented on a silver platter. Anyway, we wound up dating and got pretty serious, he propsed on our graduation day. We took his daddy's money and my brains and people skills and started our own agency. It was just the two of us for a while and it was hard work, long hours, no weekends off, no vacations, nothing. After a couple of years, we really made a name for ourselves, I contacted a temp agency about getting a part time receptionist and they sent me Bambi."

"Bambi," he interrupted, "Bambi? Please tell me that's some derogatory nickname you've developed for her."

Abby laughed, "Yeah right! Like I'd refer to her as something so innocent… That is her legal birth name, her parents actually called her Bambi. And to her credit, she was a great corporate secretary, kept the office running smoothly, always had me booked with clients. I started travelling and signing contracts up and down the east coast. Our business took off! I was over the moon about our success."

"Until…." Wade prompted.

"Yeah, until, I came back early from one of those business trips Bambi had scheduled for me. I had finished up a few hours earlier than I anticipated and hopped on an earlier train, and got back to the office just after lunch. And, the _meeting_ taking place in our conference room was a private meeting for two. It was then that I realized why I was always the one going out and meeting with clients, and it wasn't for my bubbly personality and blinding intelligence."

Wade uttered a long string of swears that would have earned him a slap upside the head from his mum. Abby nodded her head, "Exactly. In the end, almost all of the clients came back to me, but I now charge them 10% more as a pentalty for their lack of loyalty. And I have Freddy who is literally everything I need as a business associate, a fashion consultant and a friend. And I have my girls, they've been with me since we were toddlers. I'm so much better off now than I ever could have been with Alex. But, still, I havent' seen him in three years.."

"Abby, we don't have to go to the gala, I'll give the tickets to Harv and Marci."

Abby squared her shoulders and looked him dead in the eye, "Oh no, Mr. Barrett, we are going to that gala. I am going to have Freddy pick me out the most stunning gown money can buy, and we will pull up to the Marriot Marquis in your beautiful Jaguar and you will escort me into that ballroom with your arm linked in mine and we will smile and be the life of the party."

"And we will make TMZ again?" he asked with a wink.

"Absolutely, because I will look drop dead gorgeous!"

"You always look drop dead gorgeous," he said with a wink.

After Wade left for the night, Abby sat with her head in her hands, she was good at sounding confident but lord knows she was terrified of seeing Alex again. She would never take him back, never even consider being friends or business associates, there were some bridges that could never be rebuilt once they were burnt. And with Wade by her side, she knew she'd look amazing and successful, but she would never be 5'10" with mile long legs and carry herself with a sense of grace that she always envied in women like Bambi. She grabbed her phone and fired off a text message to her girls "_You both need to call in sick next Friday. Emergency spa day. Will tell you more during lunch tomorrow."_

_Oh come on, don't leave us hanging!_ Dani replied

_Not fair, woman!_ Savanna added

_Wade got tickets for the FOC_, she tapped her phone screen with shaky hands.

Her phone buzzed as Savanna replied instantly, _We will go dress shopping after work, Dani you book the spa._

_I'm on it, but Roman will have to watch the boys. Dean has to work._

And like magic, Abby got a text from Roman, _You owe me a million cupcakes for this._

Abby laughed, if nothing else, she had amazing friends.


	11. The Oasis

Wade looked at the puddle of water under his dishwasher and let out a long string of dirty words, this was the third time his brand new dishwater leaked all over the brand new floor in his brand new kitchen. He mopped up the mess and called the number on the warranty booklet, AGAIN.

"Mr. Barrett, I'm terribly sorry about the problems you've been having with your KitchenAid Architect Series dishwasher. I assure you that this an anomaly."

"Anomaly or not, this blasted thing keeps leaking and it has damaged my floor," Wade replied trying to keep his temper in check, after all, it wasn't this poor bastard's fault he got saddled with a lemon.

"I understand your frustration, sir. I will have a repair tech sent out to your residence as soon as possible," he said somberly.

Wade massaged his temples and sighed, "Look, this is the third time I've had the same problem, it's obvious this machine cannot be repaired. I've read the fine print and I know that I'm entitled to a replacement of the same model."

He heard the customer service rep clicking some keys on his keyboard, he waited patiently while the man reviewed his account, he heard a small gasp, that Wade interpreted as the poor man realizing exactly how much money he had spent renovating his kitchen. "Mr. Barrett, I am terribly sorry for the confusion, you are correct, based on your warranty, you are entitled to a replacement _after_ the third service visit if all three visits occur in less than one year from the installation date. However, if you will allow me to put you on hold for just a moment, I will consult with my manager to see if I can make an exception for you."

"Yes, yes, alright, I'll hold," Wade grumbled as he peeled off his wet socks and chucked them in the sink.

After 20 minutes of infuriating ass kissing, Wade was assured that a service technician would arrive at his home between 10 AM and 3 PM to replace his dishwasher. "Bloody hell," he muttered, he was supposed to meet Abby for lunch today.

* * *

Abby's head was pounding, her desk phone was ringing off the hook, she had hundreds of unread emails, she had a presentation for her Paris client due tomorrow, a final online advertising campaign for her most loyal client to finalize and two requests for proposals from new clients who would come with a hefty price tag. Meanwhile, all Freddy could talk about was finding the perfect gown for the FOC gala on Friday night.

"FRED!" she yelled from her office. "If you don't start answering the phone and DOING YOUR DAMNED JOB I will be buried under so much work that I won't be able to climb out in time for the FOC gala!"

She heard Fred chuckle as he filed the large stack of prints from their last completed project. She was so happy he was feeling carefree this week. Her desk phone rang, three new emails popped up and her cell phone skittered across her desk as a call came in. She snatched the phone before it hit the floor, screamed for Fred to answer the office phone and barked a hello into her cell phone.

"My, my, love, sounds like your morning sucks much more than mine."

"Sorry, Wade," she said softly, "I'm friggin swamped over here! I need to get out of the city and focus on all this work. I would escape to my parents' house, but they don't have wifi and I certainly don't have the patience to deal with my mother."

"I've got the perfect solution. Pack up and hide out at my place."

"Hmmmmm…." She said twirling a pen.

"I've got wifi, I need to get some work done myself but I'm stuck here waiting for the bloody dishwasher people."

"Again? What the hell?" Abby said.

"Don't get me started, Abs… Anyway, you can use the desk in the guest room. I'll work in my office and then I'll grill up the best steak you've ever tasted."

Abby smiled for the first time in days, "Deal! I'll stop at the farmer's market and pick up some salad makings and I'll be there in an hour."

* * *

By 10 AM Abby was settled at the desk in Wade's guest room with the wifi password, a giant cup of coffee and the sweet, sweet sound of silence. She buckled down and got busy, this was the perfect setting for productivity. The plus side of dating a successful business owner was that he understood that sometimes, you just need uninterrupted quality time with your laptop.

Wade watched the dishwasher installation like a hawk, he wanted to make sure it was done right this time, the men worked quickly and tested the machine, once he was satisfied, he gave them a generous tip and wished them a good day. He poured two more cups of coffee and passed by the guest room, he quietly slipped in and placed the fresh coffee on the desk, trying not to break her concentration. He watched as her fingers flew over the keyboard, she was in the zone, a bomb could hit the house and she wouldn't even notice. He smiled and took his own coffee to his office, all he really needed to do was answer some emails and fire off a few memos to Cynthia. A couple hours' worth of work and then he'd be standing outside on his patio with a beer and his BBQ.

Abby didn't leave her seat for over 4 hours, she was vaguely aware that Wade kept refilling her coffee, but he never disturbed her, never said a word, just slid a fresh mug on her desk and whisked away the empty one. She leaned back in her chair and stretched her arms over her head, her eyes burned and her fingers cramped, but she did it. She got the Paris presentation done and emailed the online advertising campaign to Fred for him to check over. She yawned and scrolled through her emails in case there was anything important while she waited for Fred's response. As soon as she got his response, she would sent it over to the client, she was confident that he would love her campaign. This was her first and most loyal client she ever secured, and all of her advertising campaigns brought in the big bucks for his company. But before Fred could reply, her bladder reminded her _exactly_ how much coffee she drank and jumped up and ran to the bathroom.

* * *

Wade brushed his special marinade lovingly across the two perfect steaks on the grill. He had vegetables sliced and seasoned waiting to be grilled to perfection and two fat sweet potatoes wrapped in foil roasting away. He grinned when he felt Abby wrap her arms around his waist and rest her head against his back.

"That smells amazing," she said, her voice muffled by his tshirt.

"It will taste even more amazing," he bragged. "You get everything done that needed to be done?"

"Yes! And really, I owe you big time, there was no way I'd get any of it done at the office or even at my place."

"Sometimes all you need is a change of scenery," he said flipping the steak. "How do you like your steak cooked?" 

"Medium well, please," she said sitting on a chaise lounger.

"Medium well?" he scoffed, "That's a sin." He reluctantly moved one of the steaks over the hotter coals so that they would both be done at the same time.

"Let me guess, you like yours to be still mooing."

"That's the only way to treat a piece of meat," he said waving the tongs in her direction.

She laughed, "You are such a man."

"And don't you ever forget it, love," he said winking.

She got up from her seat and slapped his ass on her way into the kitchen, "I'll set the table and open some wine while the _cave man_ plays with fire."

* * *

A short time later, Abby and Wade were stretched out on chaise loungers each nursing a glass of red wine with full bellies, watching the sun set over the trees in Wade's yard. They sat in a comfortable silence until the mosquitoes came out in full force. Abby stood up and yawned a yawn so big it left tears in her eyes. They gathered up the dishes and carried everything into the kitchen, when they were done loading the dishwasher, Abby yawned again and reached for her purse.

Wade covered her hand with his and shook his head, "No way in hell I am letting you drive back tonight, sleep here, we will leave early tomorrow morning."

Abby hesitated, "I need to be in for 9 though."

"And you will be, I promise," Wade said, scooping her up bridal style and carrying her to his bedroom. She rested her head against his chest and peppered kisses along his neck.


	12. Gala Night

Abby was exhausted, this was the most hectic week she'd had in a very long time, two presentations, two proposals for new clients and progress calls with current clients, she wasn't sure she would stay awake to make it through the entire FOC gala tonight. She stared at the dress that Fred was holding up for her, she blinked several times, surely she was so tired that she couldn't see straight, there was no way in hell that Fred would expect her to wear a dress that color…

"Fred, please tell me what color that is," she said cautiously.

Fred did his best Vanna White impression, waving his hand up and down across the garment, "It is called _pearl blush_," he said proudly. One look at her doubtful face and his smile quickly vanished.

"It's the palest pink I have ever seen in my life and you expect me to wear that all night long without getting it dirty?" She downed the rest of her latte and shoved the empty cup aside. The dress was stunning, it was silk with a beaded halter collar and it draped in the front, so it would hug her hips but not accentuate her belly, the hem stopped two inches above her knee. She would look amazing in it, but the color…

"Abs, it's a Carmen Marc Valvo," Fred said excitedly. Abby stared at him blankly, Fred should know by now that these things meant nothing to her. Fred rolled his eyes, "Its so expensive that there is no way Sir Alexander would be able to buy one for Bambi. And Bambi will be green with envy when she sees you in it."

Abby grinned, "Sold! Gimme that thing."

* * *

Wade took Abby's hand and helped her from the car, she looked so stunning that he almost forgot to give the valet parking attendant his customary scowl as he pulled away with his baby. Abby's hand was clammy and shaky in his, he kissed the back of her hand and winked at her as they walked into the hotel and checked in with the concierge.

"Mr. Wade Barrett, and guest," he said watching the man scan through the list of names on his clipboard. He nodded and waved them through. They entered the ballroom hand in hand and were greeted by a waiter with a tray of champagne flutes. Abby snorted, pink champagne, Bambi left her touch on everything, at least it was the same shade as her dress, so if she spilled a little, it wouldn't be a big deal. They made their way through the crowd, making small talk with several acquaintances along the way, Wade getting thumped on the back by his male colleagues while the women gushed over Abby's dress.

"Well, Barrett, you reeled in a good one here, with Ms. DiNardo," a tall middle aged man barked.

"Don't I know it," Wade said proudly, "let's just hope she keeps putting up with me."

Abby grinned and the man's wife snickered, "Happy wife, happy life, as the saying goes," the man said taking his wife's hand.

They parted ways as Abby felt someone burning a hole in her back, he turned slightly to see Bambi making a bee line for them, and she did not look happy. The taller woman stopped directly in front of Abby, completely ignoring Wade's existence, she was wearing a gold sequined strapless floor length dress with a shocking slit that went all the way up to her hip on one side, the dress struggled to contain her very large and very expensive breasts. She waved one long red manicured nail in Abby's face as she spoke, "What the hell are YOU doing here?"

Abby rolled her eyes and took a deep breath, but before she could speak, Wade wrapped his arm around her waist and cleared his throat, "Good evening, ma'am. Ms. DiNardo accompanied me to this wonderful event tonight. I assume you are the event coordinator?"

Bambi spun around and gaped at Wade, her anger vanishing at the site of such a handsome and clearly powerful man, "Sir, I am the FOC founder," she said witch a sticky sweet voice. "And you are?"

"Well, of course you are, you must be Mrs. Worthington," Wade said winking at Abby who was struggling not to laugh. "I'm Wade Barrett, I'm sure you noticed my contribution then. You're welcome, by the way, now, if you'll excuse me…" Wade squeezed Abby's hip and the two continued on their way leaving a furious Bambi wondering what just happened.

Abby waited as long as she could before bursting out laughing, "Mrs. Worthingon?! Wade, you are pure evil." He simply shrugged and grinned at her. "And those boobs are _way _bigger than I remember them being."

"Well, perhaps Mr. Worthington bought her breasts instead of a diamond ring," Wade said dryly. Abby sputtered again and swatted at his shoulder. He grabbed her hand and kissed her knuckles, "Mr. Worthington is a blubbering fool."

Less than half an hour later they were chatting with a group of Abby's former NYU classmates, "So, Abs, rumor has it you nailed that Beaumont account."

Abby smiled, "Yeah, won him over with my working girl charm. He loved the small town middle class girl who worked her way up to the top."

"Rumor also has it that Alex was furious," a woman about Abby's height added.

"Oh yeah, and I heard that he lowballed the contract just to get it away from you," the first guy said.

"Speak of the devil," Wade muttered.

"Abby, look at you!" Alex gushed as he pulled her in for a hug, "It's been ages since I've seen you! You look simply ravishing!" He stepped back and looked her up and down, his mouth hanging open ever so slightly. "Really, Abs, how long has it been?"

Wade plucked the champagne flute out of Abby's hand as he saw the anger creep up her face. "Really, Alex?" She asked very calmly, "You really need to ask that question? Let's see, the last time I saw you, you had your pants around your…"

"How are your parents doing?" Alex said hurrying to cut her off.

"My parents? Wouldn't you be more interested in hearing how Mr. Beaumont is doing?" Abby said squaring her shoulders.

Wade folded his arms across his chest and watched Alex struggle to maintain is smooth façade, "Well, yes, I did hear about that. Congrats, Abby, you finally scored a big one."

"Finally? When was the last impressive client you signed… without any help from me or from your daddy?"

"Oh Alex! There you are!" Bambi said trotting over on her stilettos and wrapping her arm around his shoulders. "How dreadful is this? Abby seducing this poor man just so that she could crash our gala? Don't worry, security is on their way to escort her out of the building."

"What? Why? What did she do?" Alex asked, his gaze travelling up and down Abby's body once again.

Bambi squeezed his cheeks and turned his head so he was looking down at her own chest, "Oh, I know how painful it must be seeing her again after all these years, all those horrid memories."

"You mean like the one of you two naked in the conference room?" Abby asked, causing her friends to cheer.

Bambi's face turned red as she lunged at Abby, "How dare you!"

Abby shrugged, "I guess I really should thank you, I mean, I've never been more successful in my life." She nodded towards Wade who gave her that wolfish grin she loved so much and wrapped his arm around her waist.

"What next, love?" he asked as he guided her away from an enraged Bambi. He looked over his shoulder and realized that Alex was focused on Abby's ass as they walked away. "Put a little extra swing in those hips, Abs, give that bloody stooge something to remember you by."

Abby snickered, "Can we get ice cream?"

"Ben and Jerry's or Hagan Daaz?"

"Oh! But my dress! Fred will kill me if I bring it back with an ice cream stain."

"Have no fear m' lady, I will shield your dress with my tux jacket," he said holding the door open for her.

She stood on her tip toes and kissed his lips, "Well in that case, Ben and Jerry's of course. Let's get us some New York Super Fudge Chunk."

"That's my girl," he said squeezing her ass.


	13. Lunch Date

**_This is so fluffy… I'm so sorry. I just, it came to me, I had to…._**

* * *

Abby rolled over and buried her face in Wade's fuzzy chest, he instinctively wrapped his arm around her hips and pulled her into him. Her feet still ached from their trip around midtown in her fancy dress shoes, her dress and Wade's tux were neatly laid out on the chair next to her bed, the shoes, she was pretty sure were still in the Jaguar. She kicked them off when they retrieved the car from the hotel valet parking, the blisters on her heels and toes made it nearly impossible to get them back on. So Wade gave her a piggy back ride from the car to the elevator. What a sight it must have been, Abby was sure anyone who saw them would have assumed they were drunk, but aside from the tiny glass of cheap champagne they had when they entered the FOC gala, neither one of them had a sip.

The sun was shining through her bedroom blinds and she stubbornly refused to open her eyes. Wade's big hand was resting firmly on her ass and she couldn't even figure out why she was awake.

"Let's stay here all day," she mumbled into his chest.

"That sounds like a brilliant idea, love, but you already promised Savanah and Dani we'd meet them for lunch."

"I'll tell them I'd rather be naked with you, they will understand."

Wade reached for his fancy watch and saw that it was only 10 AM, "We have plenty of time to enjoy some naked activities before we meet your friends," he said while his hand reached between them to tease her mound.

She moaned softly and hooked one leg across his waist, "But then we'll be all sweaty."

"I'll help you shower," he said pushing one long finger into her silky core.

* * *

A few hours later, Wade and Abby were sitting in a booth with Savanah, Roman and Ariel waiting for Dani and Dean to arrive. Ariel was patiently drawing with colored pencils in her sketch pad while Abby and the men chugged coffee, Savanah was fiddling with the tag on her tea bag. She avoided Abby's questioning gaze when she ordered decaf tea instead of coffee, but Abby knew better than to ask any questions before the whole squad was together.

"Daddy, look at my princess dress," Ariel said tugging on Roman's sleeve.

"That's really pretty, sweetheart."

"Can I take a look too?" Wade asked.

Ariel beamed and turned her drawing around, Wade was genuinely stunned by the quality of the kid's artwork, "Wow, half pint, you have some serious talent there. Nice work."

"Thanks! Mommy, can I order chocolate milk?"

"Yeah, sure," Savanah said absentmindedly, earning blatant stares from both Roman and Abby. "What?"

"Nothing… it's just…" Abby trailed off.

"It's just that you almost never let the munchkin get chocolate milk," Roman finished. Savanah opened her mouth and closed it again, Roman squeezed her knee under the table.

Dani and Dean finally breezed into the diner looking quite refreshed, "Sorry we're late, guys!" Dani said leaning over and giving them all a kiss on the cheek. "Wow, Ariel, that's a super pretty dress."

"Is she drinking chocolate milk?" Dean asked.

"I know, right?" Abby said. "Ok, we are all here, now you better spill it woman. Something is up and if you don't spit it out, I'm gonna start guessing."

"Mommy! Can I say it? Can I tell the news?" Ariel said bouncing in her seat.

Savanah and Roman exchanged a look and both shrugged, "Sure, kiddo, go ahead."

"I'm gonna be a big sister!" Ariel said clapping her hands with glee.

Both Abby and Dani shrieked and jumped up, squishing their girl in a group bear hug. "Easy there, ladies, don't squish the precious cargo," Roman said with a wink.

"But," Ariel added solemnly, "I will still be daddy's number one girl."

"That's right princess," Roman said ruffling her hair.

"Congrats you guys!" Dean said fist bumping Roman.

"That's excellent news, Reigns," Wade said, "I'm happy for you guys."

The girls were chattering animatedly in their corner of the table, due dates, bedrooms, paint colors, possible baby names… Oh no! Morning sickness! Wade couldn't keep up with it all. He looked back and forth between them and Roman and Dean.

"Don't worry, man, don't even try," Dean said.

"Yeah, they get like this," Roman said, "Man you should have seen the reaction when Dani told the girls she was having twins."

Dean roared, "Ha, yeah man, that was nothing compared to my reaction."

"Hey where are the little ankle biters anyway?" Roman asked.

"Oh, took you long enough to notice that my kids weren't with me. Thanks a lot big guy!" Dean said with a smirk. "I dumped them off at my mom's last night. She was whining how she hasn't seen them in so long and since it's been years since the lady and I slept in, we decided to let them have a sleepover."

"So that's why you two were late," Roman said grinning, "you were _sleeping_ late!"

"I'm hungry, can we order now?" Ariel asked interrupting all of the banter.

A short while later their table was overflowing with plates, the talk turned back to the FOC gala, Abby was proudly telling her friends how jealous Alex was about her getting the Beaumont account, "I didn't even know I was up against him," she said.

"What makes it that much better, is that the pencil neck geek couldn't keep his eyes off you," Wade said nodding at her, "You should have seen him, I swear to you, the man was drooling."

"Bambi must have been beside herself," Dani snickered.

"I hear a rumor she had some work done," Roman said waggling his eyebrows.

"Oh yeah, she certainly did," Abby said, "I don't remember her being so, umm…" she paused looking at Ariel.

"Ear muffs, sweetheart," Roman said covering her little ears with his giant hands and nodding at Abby to continue.

"I don't remember her boobs being so enormous." She said bluntly making her two friends snicker. "Those things need their own zip code."

Roman laughed and took his hands off his daughter's ears and picked up the rest of his sandwich. Dean was still shaking his head, "she said they need their own zip code…" he muttered as he popped the last ketchup coated French fry into his mouth. A glob of ketchup fell off the fry landed on his shirt. "Aww fuck," he said.

"Uncle Dean! I'm right here you know!" Ariel said covering her ears. "Daddy! You took the ear muffs away too soon!"

Dani shook her head sadly, "This is why I'm on the pill, I got this one and his two mini me's."

Both Wade and Abby handed Dean a Shout wipe at the same time making everyone else at the table burst into laughter. "Man, you do spend too much time with our Abby!" Savanah said.

"He's keeper for sure," Dani added nodding.

Abby felt her face get hot, but Wade just laughed and pulled her close, planting a noisy wet kiss on her lips, "Gotta do what you gotta do to keep your lady happy."

"Amen to that, brotha!" Dean said dabbing at the ketchup stain on his shirt.

"Aren't you glad we got dressed, love? I wouldn't miss this for the world." Wade whispered to her.


	14. Friday Night Wine

Wade and Abby were cuddled up on his couch sipping wine unwinding after a long work week. Between Savanna's baby news, Wade worrying about his brother's stomach ailments and both of them being swamped with work, this was the first time they were able to relax and spend time together all week. Ever since Wade offered his guest room as a second office, she'd begun to think of his place as an oasis from the city, her own private hideaway.

He took the last sip of his wine and placed the glass on the end table, "You know, love, I could really get used to ending my weeks like this."

She snorted, "Yeah, that's because I am a bit of a wine snob and buy much better wine than you do!"

He gasped and placed his hands over his heart, "Your words stab my heart like a sword."

She raised her eyebrow at him, "At least you have fancy wine glasses."

"Ahh yes, well, you will have to thank my lovely sister in law, she insisted that I have at least two."

"What did you use them for before I started bringing wine around?"

"Are you insinuating that I don't drink wine properly?" he asked poking her in the side.

She laughed and scrunched herself up, he raised an eyebrow and gave her a wicked wolfish grin, "Well, well, Ms. DiNardo, are we ticklish?"

She shook her head vehemently, "Nope, no, not at all, no way."

"The lady doth protest too much, methinks," he said grabbing her wrists and pinning them over her head with one large hand.

She shook her head, "No, please," she said already squirming and laughing, "Don't tickle me."

"What's so funny, love?" he said "I thought you weren't ticklish?"

"I'm not!" she snorted as she continued to squirm underneath him. He tickled her side and her stomach, laughing as she insisted she wasn't ticklish. She squiggled and twisted desperately trying not to laugh as he managed to hit every ticklish spot on her body. She was trying so hard to get away from his hand that he accidentally brushed her breast, they both froze and stared at each other. He gently brushed his thumb across her nipple, she sucked in a breath and arched her back, pressing her chest closer to him. He leaned down and kissed her neck while he continued to tease her nipple. She hummed in pleasure and wrapped her legs around his, desperately trying to free her hands so she could pull him closer. "Wade," she gasped, "please."

He nibbled her ear, "Please, what, Abby." His hand roamed under her shirt, he palmed her breast and pressed his hardening cock against her soft belly, "tell me what you want love."

She panted wildly and arched her hips, she looked up at him, lust darkening her eyes, "I want you."

He instantly released her hands and pulled his shirt off dropping it on the floor. She reached out and dragged her nails down his chest, pausing at the waistband of his pants and slowly traced his hip dents with the tip of her index finger. "Say it again," he said, his voice husky.

She let her finger drift down the front of his pants, tracing his bulge, "I want you."

He growled and pushed her shirt over her head with one hand while the other reached behind her and unfastened her bra, his mouth covering her breast before her clothes even hit the floor. He sucked and nibbled and kneaded her soft breasts as she gasped and moaned, she tangled one hand in his hair and gripped it tightly holding his head against her breast, "yes, Wade, Ohhh." She moved under him, raising her hips and grinding her mound against his hardness, he groaned against her nipple, biting it and pulling it between his teeth. She cried out as he softly licked her pebbled nub. "Sorry, love, I got carried away."

Her chest heaved as she struggled to catch her breath, her hands roamed his chiseled chest and slowly returned to his bulging pants, "Off. Pants off," she said reaching inside and gripping his cock, her thumb brushing against the head, spreading the precum down his shaft. His eyes rolled back in his head as he struggled to get his pants off without interrupting her activities.

Her pants quickly followed his as he leaned back and looked at his girl laying on his couch, hair tangled, lips puffy and her face flushed. "You are perfect," he said dragging one long finger between her folds, "and so wet."

She moaned loudly and wiggled her hips, "Wade..." He licked his lips and propped her legs up, one ankle on each shoulder and buried his cock inside her in one swift motion. She tossed her head back and cried his name again. He held her legs against him and pulled out and thrust deep inside her again, her soft wet walls gripping him, "so good, love, you feel so good." He pounded into her, watching as she fondled her own breasts, twisting and tugging on her nipples, panting and tossing her head back. He felt that familiar tingling low in his back, his balls tight and his cock throbbing inside Abby's silky wet pussy. He shook his head, "no, I'm not ready yet," he pulled out and let her legs drop down on the couch. She moaned sadly but before she could say a word he was on top of her, his hands roaming her body and his mouth covering hers. She wrapped her legs around his hips and dragged her nails up and down his back returning his kiss. He pulled her bottom lip between his teeth and groaned her name, it was the sexiest thing she'd ever heard. "Why did you stop?"

"Abby, love, there is much more that I want to do to you tonight," he said one hand cupping a breast and the other taming her wild hair. "But not here on the couch." He leaned back and took her hand, pulling her up to stand with him.

She gave him a crooked grin and squeezed his ass, "well, where then?"

"My bed, of course," he said wrapping his arm around her hips and pulling her body against his. He kissed her lips hard and dragged his tongue across the seam, she instantly parted her lips and his tongue pushed into her mouth, she squeezed his ass again and pressed her tongue against his. His hands moved up her back, caressing her soft skin as he thrust his tongue in her mouth. Her knees got weak and her legs started to wobble, so he lifted her and wrapped her legs around his hips, he broke the kiss to catch his breath. She kissed his neck and shoulder and sucked his collarbone as he carried her to the bedroom. He groaned every time her tongue darted out against his skin.

He gently laid her on the bed and she instantly reached out and wrapped her hand around his cock again, he sucked in a deep breath and watched her hand move up and down his length, "God, that feels good," he said backing away, "but not how we are going to end the night."

Abby pouted but he ignored her and turned his attention to her curvy legs, his hands traveling down from her hips to her ankles, he leaned down and kissed the inside of her ankle and peppered hot open mouthed kisses all the way up the inside of her leg, he paused at the top of her thigh and looked up at her. Her eyes locked on his, her expression was pure lust, he grinned and shifted his body up on the bed, kissing her hips and her belly until finally he couldn't resist her wet pussy any longer. He placed one large hand on the inside of each thigh and spread her legs wide open, he lowered his head and kissed her mound before licking his lips and plunging his tongue inside her hole. She gasped and raised her hips, "oh! Wade!" He licked her from hole to clit, pausing only to prop one of her legs over his shoulder before thrusting his tongue inside her again.

Abby tossed her head back and bucked her hips up as Wade pressed his tongue flat against her hole and dragged it between her folds and teased her clit. He twirled his tongue around her nub and growled as she pressed her pussy against his face. She panted wildly, her chest heaving as unintelligible sounds escaped from her lips. "So wet, Abby, so deliciously wet," he muttered before he licked her again, a long stroke of his tongue across her pussy making her whole body tremble. She gripped the sheets so tightly her knuckles turned white and arched her back raising her hips off the bed. Wade squeezed her ass with both hands and held her pussy against his face as he sucked and licked her slippery clit, her moaning getting louder and more frantic as he curled his tongue around her nub. "Wade! I'm, oh," she cried as she came. He lapped at her pussy as she came and kissed the inside of her thighs and looked up at her "Sorry about the whisker burn, love," he said wiping his hand across his beard.

She whimpered softly making him chuckle, he kissed his way back up to her mouth, settling his body between her legs. She was exhausted, she couldn't imagine doing anything else except sleeping until he kissed her lips and she tasted herself on him and felt his damp beard against her face. She felt her pussy twitch and she ran one hand through his messy hair while the other roamed his back and shoulders.

"I'm still not done with you," he said after breaking the kiss. He propped himself on one forearm and gripped the base of his cock, he was so hard it hurt, he pressed his swollen head against her hole and slowly slid himself inside her. She moaned softly and kissed his neck as he pulled in and out of her wet core, he looked down at her as he worked her with long, slow strokes. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and her legs around his hips, her heels pressing into his ass. He moved faster, pumping harder, his balls slapping against her wet pussy. He groaned, "Abby, God, Abby, you are so amazing."

He pounded into her and she raised her hips to meet every thrust, "oh god, Wade, I think," she gasped, "I'm gonna cum again." He groaned and wrapped his arms around her and pulled out as slowly as he could and slammed back into her, she buried her face in the side of his sweaty neck and moaned as her walls started to flutter around his throbbing cock.

"Yeah, Abby, that's right love," he growled, his breath hot against her ear, "cum again, cum for me gorgeous." She dug her nails into his back and held on to him as he furiously pounded into her, her walls clamping down on him. He groaned her name against her ear as he thrust into her hard and fast once, twice, before he lost control and unloaded inside her.

He held her tightly, his breath still ragged as he peppered her with kisses, her forehead, her cheeks, her neck, anywhere he could reach without letting go of her. She ran her fingertips lazily across his sweaty shoulders, her body still trembling slightly.

"Are you cold?" He asked softly as he gently pulled out of her and rolled into his side.

She shook her head and mumbled, "still feels so good."

He pulled her back against his chest and smiled, "now I'm done with you."

"I certainly hope so, I don't think I can move."

He rearranged the pillows under his head and pulled the sheets over them, "you don't have to, just stay next to me for the rest of the weekend."

"Mmmmmm, I can get used to that," she said kissing his chest.


	15. Ankle Biters

Wade sat at the little kitchen table in his brother's house drinking his fifth cup of coffee, his nieces and nephew were sound asleep, it was 2 AM and he was anxiously waiting for a call from Marci. Abby insisted on coming with him when he got a frantic phone call from his sister in law just two hours ago. Harv was throwing up blood and she had to get him to the emergency room but the kids, she couldn't wake the kids. Luckily, they were at his place instead of in the city at Abby's and were able to get there in under ten minutes, less than half the time it usually took Wade to get to his brother's place. Marci was in such a panic that she barely registered Abby's presence, she refused to let Wade drive, although Abby insisted she could handle three sleeping children just fine.

"But they don't know you! They will freak out when they wake up!" She said wringing her hands.

Fair enough, against his better judgment, Wade let her drive, demanding that she text him the minute they got to the hospital. Wade paced the kitchen, he peeked in on the kids in their rooms, all blissfully asleep. He snagged a blanket and a pillow from the linen closet and brought them to the couch where Abby had passed out, he carefully tucked her in and resumed his pacing of the kitchen. Marci had been texting him updates as she had them, but for now, all he could do was wait, he was in for tests, it had been an hour since he heard anything.

"Wade?" He stopped pacing and looked up to see Abby standing in the doorway, the blanket draped over her shoulders, she wore one of his faded Manic Street Preachers shirts over a pair of purple leggings, she pulled both from the floor and threw them on as she ran out the door with him. Her hair was mostly in a ponytail, which was now all lopsided and droopy from her nap on the couch.

"He's still in for tests, love," he said, "no more news yet."

"You should try to get some rest," she said rubbing her eyes.

"Can't, have to wait for Marci's call," he said pacing again.

She yawned, "The kids will need you when they wake up, you'll need to rest."

He grunted and nodded towards the coffee pot, she rolled her eyes and sat down at the table, she understood his restlessness and even thought she could barely keep her eyes open, she couldn't leave him alone.

"And people call me stubborn," he said as she struggled to keep her eyes open. "Back to the couch with you."

"Come with me."

He didn't reply as he steered her sleepy body back to the living room and pushed her down on the couch, she curled up under the blanket and mumbled something that sounded like "sit with me" as she fell asleep. He couldn't help but smirk at her, she was too cute, he gave in and sat on the couch with her, one arm around her shoulders and the other hand clutching his cell phone.

Finally, two hours later, his cell phone rang, "Marci!" he said jumping up and jolting Abby out of a deep sleep, "How is he? What is it?"

"An ulcer, bleeding ulcer," she said, the poor thing sounded exhausted. "They are going to do a scopey thingy and try to find the bleeding and make it stop."

"How long will that take?"

"They are taking him in now, soon as the anesthesia kicks in, they will start, few hours I guess."

"How are you holding up?"

"I'll be OK, they gave me a comfy chair to sit in while I wait, I'll just snooze a little."

"Want me to come get you? You can come home and sleep and I'll wait for Harv."

"No, no, I need to be with him, you and Abby stay with the kids, but thanks," she said stifling a yawn. "Call me when my brats wake up, OK?"

"I'll call you when my precious nieces and nephew wake up," he replied earning a snort from his sister in law. They exchanged good byes and Wade disconnected the call and filled Abby in.

"The kids will probably be up around 7, so we might as well get some sleep," he said leaning back against the couch and pulling Abby against him, now that he knew what was wrong, he felt much better.

"He's gonna be OK," she muttered against his chest.

"I know," he said kissing the top of her head.

* * *

"Uncle Wade?" a little confused voice asked at 7 AM on the dot.

Wade pried his eyes open and saw three little tykes staring at him wide eyed, "Why are you here?" his oldest niece Amber asked.

"And who is she?" his nephew Oliver asked pointing at Abby.

Zoe squeezed her teddy bear close to her body, she was the youngest of the trio, only 4 years old, "Where are mommy and daddy?" she asked her voice quivering.

Wade pulled little Zoe into his lap and patted the couch for Amber and Oliver to sit next to him, Abby scooted over to make room. "Alright kiddos, easy part first, this is my friend Abby. Abby, this is Oliver and Amber and this little love bug is Zoe and her teddy."

Abby waved awkwardly, "Hi guys."

Zoe smiled, "I like her," she whispered to teddy, "she's pretty."

"But where are mommy and daddy?" Oliver asked.

Wade cleared his throat, "Well, you see," he started, "Mommy umm… she called me when you were still sleeping… and…" he paused, how do you explain a bleeding ulcer to three kids under the age of 10?

"Wade? Can I?" Abby asked, he nodded and she continued, "What Uncle Wade is trying to say, is that your mommy called him really late at night and asked him to come stay with you guys because Daddy didn't feel good and she needed to take him to the doctor."

"Is Daddy OK?" Amber asked wide eyed.

"Daddy needs some special medicine that the doctor has to watch him take, so your mommy is there with him."

The kids nodded although they were still visibly confused.

"Mommy said you could call her on her cell phone when you woke up. Would you like to do that?" Wade asked.

"Yes!" they said at the same time.

Wade punched the redial button on his cell and put it on speaker phone, the kids crowding around waiting for Marci to pick up.

* * *

Marci and Harv came home a few hours later and after hugging all the kids and assuring them that Daddy was fine, they gathered in the kitchen with Wade and Abby.

"Thank you so much," Marci said.

"So, what's the deal, Harv? What happens now?" Wade asked looking at his brother.

"I got some meds for the stomach acid and antibiotics and I gotta see a gastro specialist on Monday. They said I can control most of it by changing up my diet."

"Alright, well, take a few days off then, I can handle whatever comes up at the office."

"Why don't we take the kids out for a few hours so you two can get some sleep?" Abby suggested. "I usually take my friends' kids to Chuck E Cheese."

"Really? The kids would love that," Marci said surprised, "Are you sure you want to spend your Saturday with three kids?"

Abby shrugged, "My best friend has rowdy twin boys and my other best friend has a very proper princess daughter, I can handle it."

Wade beamed at her, "It's settled then, we'll take the ankle biters and you two get some sleep." He walked into the playroom and cleared his throat, "All right little people, shoes on, Uncle Wade has a surprise for you!"

The kids just stared at him, not one of them moved. "Come on! Let's go!" he repeated.

"We're going to Chuck E Cheese!" Abby announced. The kids cheered and ran off to find shoes.

"It was supposed to be a surprise," he said.

* * *

"I am never going to that god awful place again," Wade grumbled after they dropped the kids off and headed back to his place.

Abby giggled, "Aww, come on, it wasn't that bad."

"It wasn't that bad? It wasn't that bad? Abby, really now… I have never seen so many sugared up, sticky, uncontrolled children before in my entire life. I mean, one of them wiped a booger on me! A booger Abby. A strange child literally walked up to me and wiped his booger on my shirt."

She laughed, "The big bad Brit can't handle Chuck E Cheese."

"It's not funny," he said "I'm going to have to burn this shirt now."

"Oh give me your shirt," she said, "I'll do a load of laundry and your shirt will be booger free. All you have to do is order dinner."

"Anything, I'll do anything you want as long as you never make me go there again."

"Anything?" she said wrapping her arms around his waist.

"Anything," he replied as he pulled his shirt off and tossed it on the floor. He pressed his lips against hers, "Anything."


	16. The Big British Softie

The next week was rough, Wade was working double time to make up for Harv being out sick, he didn't mind it one bit, he was relieved that his brother was finally taking care of himself, but he was literally dead on his feet. He was crashing at Abby's place simply because it was closer to the office, but he was getting in so late, she was only half awake most of the time. He ate breakfast, lunch and dinner at his desk and Cynthia was begging him to at least leave on time tonight, "Come on, its Friday! I'm sure you'd like to spend a quiet night with Abby?"

Wade dragged his hands thru his hair, "Bloody hell, its Friday already? I have about a million deadlines next week. It can't be Friday already."

She folded her arms across her chest, "Wade, you do not have a million deadlines, you already finished three contracts, two budget estimates and approved layouts for the new townhouse complex in Miami. The only thing left is the permit for the Brooklyn condos, and I have a call into the county court to see if we can get an exemption."

Wade blinked at her, "I did all that?"

"Go home. If not home, at least go get a bottle of wine and some dinner for Abby," she said. "Have you even seen her awake this week?"

He thought about it, to be honest, he wasn't sure he got back to her place before 10 PM a single night this week, "Text me if anything comes up. I'll check my email first thing in the morning."

"You will do no such thing," she said, "Don't make me log into the system and change your password."

"You can do that?"

"Of course I can! I have administrator privileges. Your brother forgets his password at least once a week."

He laughed, that sounded just like Harv, "We would truly be lost without you my dear."

"I know. Now get out of here."

"Yes ma'am," he said grabbing his keys and firing off a quick text to let Abby know he was bringing dinner. He knew exactly what he was going to do to make up for ignoring her all week.

* * *

Abby was on the phone with Savanah when she saw Wade's text, she had been checking in with her friend three times a day since she got the news of her pregnancy. "Really Abs, between Roman and you and Dani, I can't get a bit of work done, I'm fine, baby #2 is fine, everything is fine."

"Just fine? See, fine isn't good enough, we want everything to be perfect!" Abby said half joking, "But how's Ariel handling the thought of having to share mommy and daddy's attention?"

Her friend sighed, "I don't know, it's gonna be hard for her, Roman has always spoiled her with attention. I know he can spoil both kids, but I'm worried my girl will get jealous."

"Awww, well, I will be here to take her for tea parties and manicures if she needs some one on one time with her Aunt Abby."

"I know, Abs, you are the best. I gotta go now, I need to pee, again…"

"Ha! Ok preggo, you do that. My man just texted that he's bringing dinner, he hasn't left work on time all week."

"Oh-la-la, Friday date night!"

"Oh hush, go pee woman. Give Ariel and Roman a hug from me."

Abby was sitting on the couch texting with Dani trying to decide what to get Sav and Roman for the baby and trying to figure out something special for Ariel in the process when Wade came in with a huge bouquet of flowers and two giant bags of food. Abby inhaled the familiar aroma and grinned, "George's Greek Café!"

"That's right love, been quite a while since we ordered from there, no?" he said spreading the food on her coffee table.

"mmmmm" she said savoring the first bite of lamb kebob, "this was an amazing idea."

He grinned, "And you didn't even have to break anything to get this delicious meal!"

She swatted at his chest, "Don't jinx it, this is me we are talking about here. So have you heard from Harv? How's he feeling?"

Wade shook his head, "Marci took away his phone and his laptop, for my benefit more than his. She says he is doing fine and following doctor's orders. I know she could have used a hand with the kids, but I can't cover for Harv at the office and babysit."

Abby chewed thoughtfully and looked at Wade, this was the first chance they had to talk since they dropped the kids off with his brother and sister in law, the poor guy was exhausted, and here he was buying her dinner and apologizing for taking care of his family and his business. "You want to check in with them or anything? Weekend is here, we can take the kids again."

He shook his head, "Marci's mom is coming in to wrangle the kids, she'll stay over for a few days until Harv gets the all clear to come back to work. And as much as I love my family, I don't have the energy to babysit after the week I've had."

Abby reached over and squeezed his shoulder, "I totally get it. Besides, the kids will get more spoiled by Grandma than by Uncle Wade anyway."

"Marci says the kids can't stop talking about you," he said pointing at her with his fork, chuckling a little.

"What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing, the kids just really like you is all, already got a nickname for you," he said innocently sipping his wine.

"A nickname?" she asked curiously.

He flashed her a wolfish grin, "Spit it out, Barrett," she said sternly which only made him laugh more.

"Relax, love, its nothing bad, the kiddos truly love you. Zoe especially, braiding her pigtails really sealed the deal for her."

Abby shrugged, "They are good kids, I mean, once you hang out with the Ambrose twins on a sugar high, you can handle pretty much anything."

"You were really good with them Abs, I can't thank you enough for bailing my ass out, I would have no idea how to handle them alone for an entire day."

"I'm more than happy to bail that ass out anytime," she said, "Now, tell me what they call me."

"Well, you see, I've never brought a woman home before, so, they were a little shocked at first, but then it sunk in, you must be pretty special to be there with me when their daddy was sick." He paused and took a deep breath, Abby just watched him, finally he blurted it out, "Aunt Abby. They refer to you as Aunt Abby. Except for Zoe, she calls you Pretty Aunt Abby."

Abby's jaw dropped, the hummus sliding off her pita chip and plopping in her lap, "Wow, umm, I mean…"

Wade grabbed a napkin and wiped away the spill, he was getting rather used to this, and smiled nervously, "You made quite the impression, love."

"I'm honored that they feel that way, but…"

"Abs, I was intrigued by you the first day I laid eyes on you, and I was head over heels before you even spilled your sparkling water in my lap, and now, well, you've stolen my heart Abigail."

She stared back at him, his face softened, his light eyes twinkling with emotion, she reached out and placed her hand on the side of his face and ran her fingers through his hair, "Wade…" she said softly, her voice shaky.

"I love you Abby," he whispered.

She smiled, "I love you too, you big British softie."

"Hey, don't let that get out, I have a reputation to uphold, how am I going to get things done if the business world knows I've gone soft?"

She rolled her eyes and squeezed his bicep, "Nothing soft here," she said as her eyes wandered down his body, "Or anywhere else for that matter."

"Damned straight, love, now eat up because I suddenly feel rather energetic," he said wagging his eyebrows.

"Like you have to tell me more than once to eat," she said laughing.


	17. No Phone Rule

Abby and Wade planned on spending the entire weekend in her apartment and thanks to Fresh Direct's overnight grocery delivery, they were able to do just that. Abby consulted her recipe cards before placing the order just before they fell asleep Friday night, she knew exactly what she was going to cook.

"Cooking for just one person kinda sucks," she said spreading out her ingredients, "Cooking for two is easier, but I have to be careful when I use my grandma's recipes."

"Why is that love?" Wade was sprawled on her couch watching the soccer game on ESPN.

"My grandma's recipes are written for at least 6 people, some of them serve over 10," she said browning some garlic in a pan, "so even if I half it, sometimes its still way too much food."

He grinned and patted his stomach with both hands, "Don't go half on me, love, I have a healthy appetite!"

She rolled her eyes, "I'll keep that in mind... ouch!"

Wade jumped up and was in the kitchen in two steps, "What happened? Let me see?"

She brushed him away, "Relax, just a little burn, some of the oil jumped out of the pan."

He hovered nearby, "Ice? Water? Burn cream?"

"Burn cream? Don't you think that's a little extreme?" she asked adding a can of diced tomatoes.

"Well…" he said hesitantly.

"Well what? Its me and I get hurt a lot so you think I have burn cream on hand?"

"Are you saying you don't have any? Because if you don't, you should really consider it."

"Go watch the game, silly, its not a big deal and if you stand any closer, you'll get burned too," she admonished shaking the wooden spoon at him.

"I'll kiss it and make it all better," he said sneaking around the wooden spoon and wrapping an arm around her waist.

"Stop it, I'm trying to cook."

"Alright, love," he said nuzzling her neck. "But after dinner, I have plans for you."

"Those plans better include washing the dishes, Mr. Barrett."

"I'm going to buy you a dishwasher for Christmas."

"Oh, how romantic, I can't wait to tell the girls about that, they will be swooning forever," she said adding chicken to the pan.

"Speaking of the girls, how's Savanah doing?"

Abby smiled, none of the men she'd dated had ever asked about her friends before, now this was something that would have the girls swooning for real. "She's doing pretty good, more tired than during her last pregnancy, but that's to be expected with a little one to take care of. Roman is such a great guy though, he's taking good care of them both."

"I sense a but," he said holding up two bottles of wine.

She pointed to the one in his right hand, "But, Ariel is Daddy's little princess and we are all a little worried about how she'll take not being the star anymore."

"I remember Marci had the same worry, Amber was the apple of Harv's eye," he said in a wistful voice, "it seems like so long ago, yeah, Amber had some adjusting to do after Oliver was born, but you saw those kids, they are a team, they work together against their parents."

"So, you want me to convince Ariel that she can use her newborn brother or sister as a tool to get more cookies?"

"Well, when you put it that way," he said popping the cork, "yes, that's exactly what I want you to do."

"You are evil," she said sliding the pan into the oven and setting the timer.

"Evil? Wow, that's harsh," he said, his lips twitching as he tried not to laugh, "I am merely suggesting that little Ms. Reigns learn to play the cards she's been dealt."

Abby poked him in the stomach, "Evil."

"Seriously though, that little girl can draw, she's good and she seemed really into it," he said thoughtfully, "maybe work with that, make that her something special, a little baby can't draw princess dresses, all it can do is cry and poop."

"Mr. Wade Barrett, you make a very valid point, even though you said poop," she said swirling the wine in her glass, "Art lessons! I'm totally looking that up," she put her glass down and went to grab her phone.

"Now, now, love, what did we agree on?" he said sternly.

Abby's jaw dropped and her eyes widened, "No phones…. But its for Ariel!"

Wade chuckled, "I'm teasing, Abs, we can make exceptions for the kiddos. But no work email!"

She stuck out her pinky finger, "No work emails, pinky swear."

He hooked her pinky finger and pulled her against his chest, "pinky swear" he whispered against her ear, his other hand cupping her ass.

She unlocked her phone and saw a missed call from Roman, followed by a text message, _Bringing Sav to the ER, she's spotting. Dropped Ariel with my mom. Will text later._ She looked up at Wade, her eyes clouded with worry.

His smile vanished instantly, "What it is love? Is everything OK?"

"Roman texted that he had to take Savanah to the hospital. I'm calling him back right now."

Wade nodded and sat on the couch, pulling her down on his lap, "Call. Now," he said softly.

"Roman! Is she ok? Tell me what's going on!" she blurted out as soon as he picked up.

"Abs, she's gonna be ok, some spotting that looked a whole lot worse to us than it does to the docs."

"And baby #2?"

"Baby #2 is fine too, they are doing an ultrasound to make sure, they are going to keep her hooked to an IV for a few hours too, as a precaution," Roman said, his voice shaky.

Wade rubbed small circles in the small of her back as he listened to her side of the call, "Can I talk to her? Does she have her phone?" she asked anxiously.

"She does, but she's sleeping right now, I'll tell her to text you and Dani when she wakes up. I'll keep you posted."

"And Ariel?"

"My mom and dad are spoiling her rotten as we speak, I heard something about an ice cream sundae pajama party when I walked out," Roman said, Abby could practically hear his smile, his little girl and his parents together always made him happy.

"Good. If you need anything, let me know. Wade is here with me, we can be wherever you want whenever you want us," she said looking up at her boyfriend who nodded his head.

"Anything you need, man, we're here," he added.

"Are you kidding? I'm calling Ambrose first, he has sirens and guns," he said with a snort.

"Yeah, but I can bake chocolate fudge brownies," she said.

"Alright, you get baking and Ambrose can flip on the sirens to get them here while they are still warm."

Abby disconnected the call and rested her head on Wade's shoulder, she was worried about her friend, but at least she managed to lighten Roman's mood just a little bit.

"No phone rule has been lifted," Wade said softly, "But just for you, I'm still not touching mine, the temptation will be too much."

Abby sniffled, "you have no self-control."

"Not true, you still have clothes on," he replied slipping his hand under her shirt and resting it on her back. "Hey, Abs, she's gonna be alright. I remember Marci taking a few trips to the hospital when she was pregnant with Zoe. And you saw my love bug, she's perfect."

Abby smiled, she loved the way Wade talked about his youngest niece, "Yeah, love bug is pretty adorable."

"Now let's go eat," he said when the timer went off in the kitchen, "because you have some baking to do tonight."

"I can whip up a batch of brownies in no time," she said waving her hand.

"But how long will it take you to whip up two batches?"

"Two? Why two?" she said making her way to the kitchen.

"You think I'm gonna let Reigns have all the brownies? I want some for me!"

She shook her head, "Fine. And, if you are really good, I'll even let you lick the spoon."

"Aww, shucks, Abs, you really do love me!"


	18. Wade's Jag

Abby pulled into Savanah and Roman's driveway bright and early Monday morning in Wade's Jaguar and gathered up all her bags before barging in the front door. Roman raised an eyebrow, "Nice wheels," he said.

"What? I was gonna grab a Zipcar but Wade insisted that I take his, as long as I dropped him off at the office first," she said setting up her laptop on the counter and unpacking the groceries she brought. "So, how's Sav? And how's Ariel?"

"Wait a minute, hold on, back up, rewind, Wade _insisted_ that you drive his Jaguar?"

Abby nodded and Roman have her a huge grin, "Abs, that man has got it bad for you, that car is his baby."

She just shrugged, "He's been parking in my spot the last week or so since he's been working late, so it was easier than me taking the train to find a Zipcar and then getting groceries to make your pregnant wife a healthy breakfast."

"Go ahead and cook your pregnant best friend breakfast, I'm just saying that you pulling up in that Jag is a big deal."

"You want some breakfast too? How about the little princess?" Abby asked lining up the ingredients on the marble countertops. "I love cooking in your kitchen, its like bigger than my whole apartment."

"The school bus picked up the little lady just before you got here and I need to get to work or I'll be late for my big meeting," he wrapped Abby in a bear hug, "Thanks for coming over, Abs, I don't want Sav alone today, she's still not feeling so great."

"No worries big man, I'll take good care of her and your little peanut. Go make some money," she squeezed his massive shoulder, "I have lots to talk to her about anyway."

He laughed, "Yeah, like how you managed to get your man to beg you to take his uber fancy car for a spin."

After assuring Roman that she would call immediately if anything unusual happened she ushered him out the door and quickly checked her email. She had some things she needed to work on for Freddy but she could easily get that taken care of throughout the day. Time to whip up her version of her grandmother's frittata, she grabbed a cutting board and a knife and started dicing up an onion and some Canadian bacon.

* * *

"Well, having a babysitter isn't so bad when I get home cooked meals too," Savanah said peeking into the oven, "oooo! Grandma DiNardo's famous Sunday frittata!"

Abby held up one finger, the universal sign for 'hang on a minute' and finished typing up her memo, "Sorry, Sav, didn't want to lose my train of thought, I need to get this to Freddy before your breakfast is done in the oven."

Her friend opened the frig and gasped, "Oh my god, Abs, what did you do?"

"Hush. Pour yourself some juice and sit your ass down," she said getting up to check on the frittata. "Ahh, done, it just needs a minute or two to cool before I cut it."

"You don't have to do all of this, Abs, I'm pregnant, not handicapped," her friend said with a sigh, plopping down into a chair.

"Oh, I'm not doing it for you, I'm doing it so your husband doesn't worry himself to death," Abby said with a wink, "But, he's right, you do look rather pale."

"I'm tired, this peanut is really draining me, I wasn't like this with Ariel."

"That's because Ariel was a fairy tale baby, she was and still is perfect in every way imaginable. Now, eat," she said putting a quarter of the frittata on the plate and sliding it across the table, "before I turn into my grandmother."

Savanah laughed, "That wouldn't be so bad, I mean, I would kill for a pot of sauce and some meatballs."

Abby rolled her eyes, "Anything else?"

Her friend shrugged, "I'll let you know. Hey, where's Wade?"

"At work, why?"

"Work? Really? Because his Jag is in my driveway."

"I know, that's where I parked it."

"Wait, what? _YOU_ parked _WADE'S_ jag in my driveway?" she asked pointing with her fork.

"Oh my god, you are just as bad as Roman! Yes, my boyfriend let me borrow his car, what's the big deal?"

"The big deal is that your boyfriend's car is a $60,000 jacked up luxury sports car that he treasures with every fiber of his being. OH MY GOD ABBY! He treasures you more than he does his car," she said her eyes welling up with tears, "That's so romantic!"

"Easy there preggo, your hormones are showing," she said shoveling her own slice of frittata in her mouth.

"Oh please, Abigail, that man is in love with you! And my hormones have nothing to do with that."

Abby grinned, "Oh I know he loves me."

"How do you know?"

"Probably because Friday night when I hung up with you, he showed up with a huge feast from that Greek place and we sat on my couch feeding our faces and he said 'I love you Abby'."

"OH MY GOD!" he friend squealed and clapped her hands, "that's so amazing, Abs, god Wade is so perfect for you."

"Perfect may be stretching it, I mean, he's no Roman Reigns," she teased.

"Well, duh, my man does set the bar pretty damned high," she said as her eyes welled up with tears again. "Oh god, I'm sorry Abs."

"Sav, hun, its ok, just, I dunno, sit on the couch and I'll make us some tea," she said squeezing her friend's shoulder, "Then you can tell me what's really going on here."

"Can you make peppermint tea?"

Abby smiled, "I'll make whatever tea makes you stop crying."

Savanah wobbled to the living room while Abby set up the tea kettle and replied to a couple more emails while the water boiled. By the time she carried the two mugs into the other room, her friend was curled up on the couch wrapped in a quilt.

"My grandma made this for us as a wedding present," she said absentmindedly tracing the seams with her forefinger. "She got to meet Ariel, which I will always be grateful for."

Abby blew on her tea and took a tentative sip, "Ariel was two, right, when she died?"

Savanah nodded, "I never told you Abs, but, I was pregnant when grandma had her stroke, a week later I found out I had a miscarriage."

"Oh, Sav, no, I'm sorry," Abby put her tea down and hugged her friend, "that's why you and Roman are so worried?"

"Well, that was the first one," her friend said pulling away and looking down at her lap.

"The first one? Oh Sav, I had no idea," she whispered.

"I couldn't talk about it, we didn't tell anyone, then the second time, we didn't want to jinx it and well, I'm just barely three months now and we didn't want to tell anyone but Ariel found the sonogram picture in my room and I didn't have it in me to lie to her."

"And once Ariel knew, it was only a matter of time before she spilled the beans, so you told all of us?"

Savanah nodded and wiped her nose with the back of her hand, "Eww, now you are like Dani's boys, don't you have a box of tissues somewhere?" Abby took her friend's tea and placed it on the end table before getting her a napkin.

"I'm so sorry I didn't tell you and Dani," she said shaking her head, "I mean, the first one, I wrote it off as stress, you know? And then after the second time, we were scared to try again. This peanut," she said rubbing her tiny baby bump, "was an accident."

"Don't be sorry, that's between you and Roman," Abby said swallowing the lump in her throat, "I'm so sorry you two had to go through that."

"I was too much of a chicken shit to ask you to stay with me today, so I made Roman do it," she sniffled, "and I secretly hoped you would make me a frittata."

Abby hugged her friend again, "I will make you a million frittatas!"

Savanah rested her head on Abby's shoulder, "I'm scared, Abs."

"I know. I'll make you some meatballs. Meatballs fix everything."

"Now you really are turning into your grandmother."

"Listen lady, you want food? Don't knock it," she said teasing, "Now you have to rest while I answer some more emails."

"Yes ma'am!"

* * *

At 5:30 on the dot Abby was sitting in the Jag outside Wade's office building, as soon as she saw him stroll out the front door, she jumped out of the car and ran around to the passenger side. Before she could slide into the seat he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her, "Hey love, you look sexy driving my car."

"You look sexy all the time," she said pulling away. "Come on, let's get moving, I need to cook."

"Oh boy, is Savanah alright?"

Abby looked at him wide eyed, "Can't a girl just cook for the sake of cooking?"

"Sure, she can, but my girl only _needs_ to cook when she's stressed," he said holding the door open for her. She slid in the car and he walked around to the driver's side, "You even remembered to put the seat back."

"Roman was stunned that you let me drive your car," she said with a shrug.

Wade laughed, "I know, he texted me to make sure you were telling the truth. Hey, is everything ok?" he asked when she didn't laugh.

She let out a long sigh, "Sav is on bed rest until the baby is born, her doctor called right before I left. That's six months of only leaving the house to go to the doctor. Roman is a mess and poor Ariel just doesn't understand."

He squeezed her knee, "I'm sorry, love. So what are you cooking for them?"

"Meatballs," she said wiping her eyes, "and Ariel wants cupcakes."

"Well, if Ariel wants cupcakes, we better get ourselves to the grocery store," he said with a wink as he peeled away from the curb leaving a cloud of smoke behind them.


	19. Lovable Jerk

The following Saturday, the whole gang gathered at Roman and Savanah's house for a pot luck feast and ice cream sundae party. The Reigns family needed cheering up and they needed it fast, poor Sav already had cabin fever and Ariel was struggling to with the fact that her mommy wasn't allowed to leave the house.

Dani, Abby and Savanah were gathered in the living room with Ariel while the menfolk made themselves useful and brought baby furniture down from the attic. Savanah had her feet propped up on the couch and Ariel was giving her a pedicure.

"Wow, Sav," Abby said, "I'm so jealous, I want a rainbow pedicure too."

"Really Aunt Abby?" Ariel said excitedly, "I can do you next. You too Aunt Dani!"

Savanah looked at her friends, silently begging them to say yes. "Of course I do, kiddo! You are doing such a good job on your mommy."

"Totally," Dani said agreeing with Abby, "Then we can do your toes."

"Can you take a picture of it all and put it on my mommy's Facebook?"

"Now, that's the best idea I've heard all week," Abby said, "In fact, I'll post it on my Facebook too."

"Me too! And we will make all the men post it," Dani said giggling.

"Daddy said I can paint his toe nails too," Ariel said, "but I think he was just being nice, I don't think he really wants pink toes."

Abby looked through all the bottles of nail polish the little girl had collected and picked up a bottle of dark blue, "I think this one is perfect for your dad."

"But it has glitter, I don't think boys like glitter."

"Kiddo, your daddy likes everything you do, so glitter him up!" Dani said bursting into a fit of laughter. Savanah started laughing too, the image of her husband with glitter blue toenails was just too much.

"Oh no, I need to go pee, I can't laugh like this," she said, "Someone help me up."

"Mommy, your nails are still wet!" Ariel shrieked.

Dani and Abby helped their friend get off the couch and sent her to waddle to the partial bath on the first floor. Ariel stomped her feet, "I hate that baby! Its hurting my mommy!" she burst into tears and ran upstairs to her room.

Abby and Dani looked at each other in a panic, "ROMAN!" they shouted in unison.

The three men came barreling down the attic stairs, tripping over each other, "What? What happened? Where's Sav? Where's Ariel?" Roman said searching the room.

Dani pointed to the bathroom, "Sav is in there. But its Ariel who needs you."

Abby nodded, "Ariel screamed about hating the baby and then ran off to her room. We figured you would want to handle this one."

Roman sighed and dragged his hand across his face, "Not really, but thanks, ladies."

Abby tossed him the bottle of blue nail polish, "Take this with you, its for your pedicure."

"But it has glitter, dudes don't wear glitter," Dean said.

Both Dani and Abby slapped him upside the head, "They do today," his wife told him sternly, "And if that little girl offers you a pedicure, you better say yes."

Wade picked up a bottle of bubblegum pink nail polish, "I think this goes great with your skin tone."

Abby glared at him, "You too, mister, if she wants to do your nails, you bet your ass you are getting a pedicure."

"But my feet are gnarly," he said, "Roman doesn't want his little girl to see that, she'll have nightmares."

"You are all insane, get out of my house," Roman said making his way up to his little girl's room.

"But I made meatballs," Abby retorted.

"Dudes wear glitter, and even the gnarliest of gnarly feet will get a pedicure, whatever my princess wants, my princess gets," he said before disappearing upstairs.

"Speaking of kids," Dean said suspiciously, "where are ours?"

"What you mean? They went up to the attic with you," Dani said putting her hands on her hips.

"Oh shit, uhhh… be right back…"

Wade looked at Abby and then at Dani before clearing his throat, "Uhh, yeah, I gotta go too. Wait up Ambrose."

"OK, I'm back! Hey, where's Ariel?"

"Her room, with Roman. You might want to go check on them," Abby said, "I think you guys need a family moment."

"While you take care of your princess and my dumbass finds my kids, Abs and I will get dinner ready."

They hurried into the kitchen and when they were sure they were alone they looked at each other helplessly, "What can we do, Abs?"

Abby shook her head, "I have no idea."

"Well, you can start by taking this little bugger off my hands," Wade said limping into the kitchen, he had one hand on his forehead and one Ambrose twin by the back of his pants. Dean appeared behind him with the other twin tossed over his shoulder.

"Are they OK?" Dani said rushing forward and rescuing Joey from Wade and glaring up at him.

"Oh, they are fine, just dirty, but I'm sure you are used to that."

Dean stifled a laugh, "You are just pissed because you hit your head trying to get him out of the corner of the attic."

Wade curled his lip and grunted, "I probably have a splinter."

"Why did you leave our children alone in the attic anyway?" Dani demanded tapping her foot.

Dean shrugged and scratched the back of his head with his free hand, "I guess they thought we were playing hide and seek or something."

Dani turned her attention to the dusty child in her arms, "And why didn't you tell Daddy you were going up to the attic?"

Joey laughed, "Daddy couldn't find us! We won again!"

Jon let out a celebratory whoop, "Daddy sucks at this game!"

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?" Dani and Dean yelled in unison.

Abby covered her mouth with her hand and took Wade by the elbow and dragged him to the partial bathroom recently vacated by Savanah. "Come on, let me help you look for splinters."

He grumbled and grunted all the way to the bathroom, Abby settled him down on the toilet and closed the door before rummaging through the medicine chest looking for the first aid kit, she turned back to Wade and was shocked to see him grinning.

"What? Can't let those ankle biters know they pulled a good one," he said laughing. "We chased those two brats all over the attic. Ambrose was tripping on boxes and I finally cornered one of them and BAM! Smashed my head on a roof beam."

"So, do you really think you have a splinter?" she said pouring rubbing alcohol over a pair of tweezers. He nodded still laughing, "Well then hold still." She stood in front of him and leaned forward examining the red welt on his head, "I think you are exaggerating," she huffed.

He put his hands on her hips and pulled her closer to him, his eyes locked on her chest, "Are you sure, love? I'm telling you there is something in there."

She sighed, "I don't see anything."

He ran his hands up her back and cracked a wolfish grin, "Well I see something."

She rolled her eyes and swatted at him, "Let me go, you horn dog. I can't believe I fell for that."

"There was a split second where I thought the splinter was a possibility," he said waggling his eyebrows and mouthing her breast through her shirt.

She gasped and gripped the back of his hair, "Stop!"

He paused, "Do you really mean that?"

"No… Wait, yes. Dammit Wade. We are in my best friend's bathroom and everyone is waiting to see if you have a shard of wood stuck in your brain."

He shrugged, "Have it your way." But before he let her go he pressed his lips against hers and thrust his tongue in her mouth. He broke the kiss and grinned as she struggled to catch her breath, "You were so adorable when you thought I was hurt."

"You stupid jerk," she said stomping on his foot.

"You forgot lovable, I'm rather lovable too."

She sighed and stomped out of the bathroom and back into the kitchen were Roman and Savanah had rejoined them. Roman and Dean grinned at Wade, "Splinter, huh?" Roman said chuckling.

"Nice one bro," Ambrose said offering a fist bump.

"So where are the kiddos now?" Abby asked ignoring the menfolk.

"We convinced Jon and Joey to let Ariel paint their nails," Dani said laughing.

"Yeah, she's using the Halloween make-up kit, she's gonna give them scars too," Savanah added.

"That's a nice compromise," no one will notice the glitter nails if she makes the scar nasty enough," Dean chimed in.

Wade pulled his phone out of his back pocket and frowned at the screen, "It's Marci," he said tapping the screen and walking out of the room.

"Marci?" Dean asked, "Who's Marci? Do I need to get my gun? I'll shoot his nuts off."

"Calm down Copbrose," Abby said mimicking Wade's frown, "Marci is his sister-in-law, and she rarely calls unless something is wrong with Harv or the kids."

Dean shrugged, "Damn, you guys never let me shoot anyone's nuts off."

"Come on, bro, we better make sure the kids don't break themselves," Roman said pulling two beers from the frig. "Mama, you wanna come sit on the couch?"

"No way," Savanah said shaking her head, "I'm so sick of that couch, I'm staying here with my girls."

Abby busied herself getting dinner ready while she watched Wade pace in the other room with his phone pressed against his ear. He disconnected the call and walked back to the kitchen, his face grim, he wrapped his arms around Abby. "I'm sorry, love, but I have to go, Harv is at the hospital again. Marci's mom is with the kids, but she is freaking out."

She nodded, "Go, its OK, let me know how he is."

"I feel awful leaving you stranded," he said caressing her face with the back of his hand, "and I don't want to pull you away from your friends. Sav needs you."

"Wade, its fine, I'll call a cab or something. It's not a big deal, go, Harv and Marci need you."

Savanah cleared her throat, "Abs can take my car back to the city. I'm not allowed to drive anymore, so it's just sitting in the garage."

Wade looked down at Abby, his eyes filled with concern, "Go," she repeated softly, "I'm OK." He nodded and kissed her before reluctantly letting her go and pulling his phone out again. He walked out to the car with the phone pressed to his ear again, likely calling Marci back to let her know he was on his way.

Abby stood at the window until the Jag was out of sight before sighing loudly and turning back to her friends who had been silently watching her. "OK, enough of this, the kids and the men need to eat, no more distractions, we need to get dinner on the table."

Savanah rubbed her little baby bump, "Screw the kids and the men, I need to eat!"


	20. Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Wade finally convinced Marci to let him take her home after promising to stay with Harvey until they knew what was going on. He was on his way back to the hospital when he decided to check up on Abby.

"Hey love. Did I wake you?" he asked when she picked up.

"Nope," she whispered, "just gimme a minute." He heard a rustling noise then a door closing before Abby spoke up again, "I got guilted into having a princess sleepover with Ariel. How's Harv? And Marci?"

"Marci is a total wreck, they gave Harv something to help him sleep, so Marci let me take her home."

"Any news? What happened?"

He shook his head, "No clue yet, and now that Marci left, they aren't allowed to tell me shit since I'm not technically the next of kin. Of course, I didn't tell Marci that, poor thing needs some sleep."

Abby collapsed on the couch in Sav's family room, "Keep me posted, OK?"

"Of course, love, so tell me all about your princess sleepover? Did you get a pedicure?"

Abby looked down at her bubblegum pink toenails, "I certainly did, my toes are so bright I didn't even have to turn the lights on to come downstairs."

Wade chuckled, "You Abby, are a great friend."

"Aww shucks, thanks, but this great friend is gonna need a chiropractor after sleeping in a sleeping bag on the floor all night."

"Fear not, love, I'll work my magic and take care of that aching back for you."

"Oh really? So, you know someone who works at a spa?" she retorted sarcastically.

Wade laughed, "Aren't we quite witty tonight? No love, I plan on finishing what I started in the bathroom this afternoon."

Abby flushed, "You are terrible, trying to seduce me in my best friend's bathroom with all the kids running around. You should be ashamed of yourself!"

"Actually, I'm rather proud of myself, I got to cop and feel and suck on a boob."

She sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Don't roll your eyes at me," he said laughing again.

"How did you? Oh never mind… hey, be careful OK?"

"I will, love, no worries. I'm back at the hospital, you sleep well in your sleeping bag. I'll call you in the morning. I love you Abs."

She smiled, it still made her heart race when he said that, "I love you too."

* * *

Roman poked his head in Ariel's room early Sunday morning, "Hey Abby," he whispered, "Are you up?"

"Awake? Yes. Getting up though will be more difficult."

Roman tiptoed in and helped her get up from the floor, it wasn't until she followed him out that she realized something wasn't right, "Hey, big man, what's wrong?"

"Sav is in a lot of pain, she's getting dressed now, I'm taking her back to the hospital."

She squeezed his hand, "I'll go help her, give your little girl a kiss before you go." He nodded and she made her way to the master bedroom to check on her friend. "Oh sweetie, hang on, stop, let me help you," she said rushing over to help her friend who was trying to get a hoodie from the top of her closet. Sav burst into tears and collapsed on the bed, Abby grabbed the hoodie, which was clearly Roman's, and wrapped it around her friend's shoulders. "Hey, its gonna be OK, look, Roman is just checking on Ariel and then you will be on your way to the hospital, they will take good care of you."

"Abs, I can't lose this one, I can't lose another baby. I just don't know what I will do."

"You will stop thinking like that, you will let me help you get dressed and you will let your perfect husband take to you the hospital. I will stay here and take care of Ariel until everything is under control."

She nodded, "Thank you, I love you so much, I would be lost without you right now."

"Hush up, stop being so sappy, I can't deal with that. Now where are your shoes?"

Abby and Roman helped Sav get in the Range Rover and gave Roman a hug, "You got this. Keep me posted." He nodded and she watched as they pulled away, this was the second time in a matter of days that she watched someone she loved drive off to the hospital, this was really getting to be too much to handle. She went back inside and checked on Ariel before making a pot of coffee and texting Dani to update her on the situation. She wanted Wade by her side so badly, but he was dealing with his own issues and she didn't want to bother him, he said he would call her when he could, she couldn't ask for more from him.

"Morning Aunt Abby!" Ariel came skipping down the stairs with her princess teddy bear. "How come you left your sleeping bag?"

"Aww, I'm sorry kiddo, but I wanted to get all the ingredients ready to make chocolate chip pancakes, I was going to surprise you."

"ooooo, I love chocolate chip pancakes! Can I help?"

"Of course, let's get all set up."

"Can mommy and daddy have some too? We can make them breakfast in bed!"

Abby wasn't sure how much Roman and Sav wanted their little princess to know, but she figured sugar coating the truth was her best option right now. "Well, Ariel, mommy and daddy aren't here right now."

The little girl's eyes grew wide with fear, "Is mommy sick again? Is it the baby?"

"Yes, mommy and the baby needed to go see the doctor, and daddy is with them."

"Will you stay with me, Aunt Abby?"

"Of course I will! And as soon as mommy and daddy get home, we can make them a big pile of chocolate chip pancakes."

"And bacon? Daddy loves bacon."

"Sweetie, everyone loves bacon!" she said laughing.

"Not everyone, vegetarians don't like bacon," she said very seriously.

"Sure they do, that's why someone invented veggie bacon."

"Ewwww!" she exclaimed scrunching up her face, "That sounds awful!"

Abby just laughed louder, "It tastes even more awful then you could possibly imagine."

Ariel finished eating and went off to prepare a Barbie fashion show while Abby cleaned up the kitchen, she was getting increasingly anxious since she hadn't heard from Roman or Wade all morning. She busied herself by cleaning the kitchen and bathroom while she checked her phone every 13 seconds just in case a text message slipped in unnoticed. She was surveying the pantry to see if she had the proper ingredients to bake cookies when she heard a knock on the back door.

She peeked through the curtains and found a very tired Brit rubbing his eyes, "Wade!" she yanked the door open and pulled him inside before throwing her arms around him, "What are you doing here? Why didn't you just go home? Is Harv ok?"

"Harv will be fine, just needs some fluids and some antibiotics," he said eyeing the coffee pot, "Care to pour me a cup?"

"Go sit down, I'll bring you some. Want anything to eat? I made chocolate chip pancakes, still have some batter left."

"Have I told you lately how much I love you?"

She flushed, "Well, yes, but you can tell me again."

"I love you Abigail and your stress cooking."

She swatted at him, "Go sit down and rest, I'll be right back."

A few moments later she curled up on the couch next to Wade with a cup of coffee and watched him inhale a giant stack of pancakes, "So, you never told me why you came here?"

He chugged the rest of his coffee and put his dishes on the coffee table, "I saw Roman pacing the floor as I was leaving the hospital. He gave me a quick rundown of what happened this morning. He felt bad leaving you here, so, I decided to give you some company."

Her eyes welled with tears, "I'm so worried about her, Wade. She was so scared and she was in so much pain. And poor Roman was scared and he didn't want to leave Ariel. And Ariel! God she is so confused."

He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly, "I know, love, I know. You are an amazing friend. You being here with Ariel is the best help anyone could ask for."

Right on cue Ariel appeared in the living room, "Aunt Abby! The Barbie fashion show is ready! Wade! You can come see it too!"

"Sweetie, Wade needs some rest, he was up all night, I'll come watch your fashion show."

"Are you kidding me?" Wade said winking at Ariel, "I wouldn't miss the Barbie fashion show! Lead the way!"

Ariel's cheeks flushed, "OK, let's go!"

"So that's the Barrett charm Marci always talks about," Abby giggled as she followed them up to Ariel's play room.


	21. Chapter 21

Ariel and Abby just finished cleaning up the mess on the kitchen floor when Roman came home. "Where's my little princess?" he called from the front door.

"DADDY!" she cried as she ran across the house to reach him.

Abby grabbed some ice from the freezer for her arm and met Roman and Ariel in the living room. "How's Sav feeling today?"

"What happened to your arm?"

"Nothing," Abby said.

"Aunt Abby burned herself," Ariel said immediately.

"Its no big deal, its nothing, really. Thanks a lot kiddo."

Ariel shrugged and Roman chuckled, "Hey kiddo, go pack up some toys and some pajamas, you are going to have a sleepover with Grandma and Grandpa."

"Yay!" she said jumping up and down and clapping her hands before racing upstairs to her room.

"Abs, go home, get some rest. Sav's mom is going to stay with her this weekend. My mom is going to take Ariel and I am going to sleep."

"Roman, you don't have to…"

"I told Dani and Dean the same thing, everyone needs a weekend off. You guys have been amazing since Sav found out she had to stay in the hospital until the baby is born. But you are running yourselves ragged."

"Ro, its really not a big deal. There's no difference between watching your TV and watching mine."

He rolled his eyes, "How did you burn yourself?"

She looked down at ice melting on her arm, "Well…." Roman glared at her, "OK, ok, I was boiling water for hot chocolate."

"Abs, even for you, that's a bit much. You need to rest."

Before she could protest, the doorbell rang and Roman opened it to find Wade standing outside, "Perfect, your ride is here."

"Fine, let me go pack up my stuff."

The two men struggled not to laugh as they watched Abby huff away. As soon as she was gone Wade looked at his new buddy, "Ro, man, you hanging in ok?"

"Not really, I'm scared and tired and I just had to give everyone a break."

"I get it man, Abby put up a fight huh?"

"Of course. Listen, keep an eye on her, she burned herself boiling water for hot chocolate."

Wade shook his head, "That's my Abby. I love that woman."

Roman turned serious, "Do you really?"

"Hell yeah, of course I do. Why are you even asking that?"

"Put your money where your mouth is, let her know you aren't going anywhere. I know you worship her, but if you don't plan on being her forever, then let her go now."

Wade was stunned, he ran his hands through his hair making it stick up, "Look, man, Roman, I'm not you. I'm not Mr. Family Man. I'm not stable and chill and the big protector."

"Ok, first of all, you don't have to be me. Look at Ambrose man, who knew he'd be such a great husband and father? He's quirky as fuck but it works for him and Dani. And you are certainly the big stable protector."

Wade opened his mouth to reply when Abby came back with her overnight bag tossed over her shoulder. "Let me take that, love. And show me the burn."

Abby rolled her eyes, "Oh my god, its not that bad, you guys are acting like I've never hurt myself before." She stomped past them and climbed in the Jag and crossed her arms across her chest. "Well? Are we going or what?"

Roman just laughed, "Good luck bro."

"And I thought your kid would be the difficult one."

* * *

Abby wanted to go back to her place, so after checking in with Marci to see how Harv was doing, he drove back to the city with Abby sleeping in the passenger seat next to him. The conversation with Roman was still bouncing around in his head, was he right? Should he be considering marriage? After what Abby's jackass ex did to her, would she even want to try again? But if that's what she wanted, a ring, a wedding, anything to keep her by his side.

As soon as they got up to Abby's penthouse and finished unpacking she high tailed it to the kitchen, "I need to make cupcakes." She muttered.

"Rest, Abby, some wine, a movie, not baking, rest."

"I promised Ariel. They didn't have cupcake wrappers so I promised her I would make them as soon as I got back to my place. And here I am back at my place."

Wade sighed and went to check out the wine situation, he wasn't going to argue with her. He frowned, they only had half a bottle of chianti left, that was only enough for two glasses. Well, it would have to do. He grabbed two of Abby's fancy wine glasses and drained the bottle. He turned around to hand her one and she crashed into him with a box of flour knocking both glasses out of his hands. The flour puffed into the air and fell all over his chest and coated the floor, including the two shattered glasses and a puddle of red wine.

"Abby!"

"Oh my god, that's all my flour."

"Flour? You are worried about the flour?" he said his voice rising drastically, "That was the last of the wine. I've been looking forward to a glass of wine all day. And you are worried about flour."

"Yes! Flour! That's what I'm worried about."

"Go sit down and I'll clean this up."

"No, I'll do it, I'll clean it up and I'll run down to the corner store and I'll get flour and wine."

"That place doesn't have wine," he said through gritted teeth.

"Then I'll get beer!" she shouted throwing her hands up in the air.

"No. You aren't going anywhere."

"Excuse me? Look, I need to make these cupcakes. So move out of the way and let me get the mop."

"Abby!" he yelled again, "Go sit down in the living room."

She glared at him, "Don't…"

"Abby, you aren't wearing shoes and there is glass on the floor. Get out of the kitchen now."

She looked down at her bare feet covered in flour and rolled her eyes before stomping out of the kitchen and throwing herself on the couch.

Wade just stared at the kitchen floor for a few minutes trying to figure out how to even begin cleaning it up, wine, flour and broken glass. Of all the women to fall in love with, he picked the clumsiest woman on the East coast.

It took him half an hour to clean up the floor, when walked into the living room, he found Abby sitting on the couch with her knees drawn up to her chest, her arms wrapped around her legs and her head down. "Abby…"

"Go away."

"Abs, its gonna be ok, look, we are both stressed and tired and it was an accident, ok?"

"You are lying. Its not going to be ok, how can you even pretend to know that everything is going to turn out fine?"

He sat down on the edge of the couch and sighed, she was right, of course he had no idea how things would turn out with Savanah and the baby or with Harvey. "Maybe if I say it out loud, that will make it true," he said. Abby just huffed, still not picking up her head, he looked over at her and noticed the blood on her foot, "Abs, your foot is bleeding. Let me take a look at it."

"Oh shit," she muttered jumping up and hopping to the bathroom, trying not to get blood on the floor.

Wade followed her, "Let me look at it, you could have glass in it."

"I got it. I can take care of myself. I don't need a chauffeur or a babysitter or an EMT." She sat down on the edge of the tub and pulled out her first aid kit and washed off her foot before pressing against the skin to see if there was any glass in it.

"Abby, let me make sure there's no glass in there," he pleaded.

"Listen, I know what I'm doing. I took care of myself before you came along and I'll continue taking care of myself after you are gone," she snapped drying off her foot and applying Neosporin.

Wade gasped, "After I'm gone? Abby? What are you saying?"

She looked up at him and instantly regretted her little tantrum, his eyes were wide and his forehead all scrunched up with worry, he tugged at his beard with one hand, "Where am I going?"

"Wade. No. That's not what I meant…"

"You don't think I'm going to stick around? You think you are just another girlfriend?"

"I don't know," she shrugged and looked back at her foot, she selected a bandage and covered it.

"Look, OK, look, Abby, I know, I've had lots of flings and no one thinks I'm capable of settling down. But, I love you, Abby. I don't want to go anywhere unless its with you."

"Really?"

"Really," he scooped her up and carried her back to the living room.

After sitting in silence for a few minutes she looked up at him, "Today fucking sucked."

He barked out a laugh, "Tell me about it!"

"First I burned myself on the tea kettle, then I was terrified I was going to burn Ariel too, then my best friend's husband kicks me out of his house and tells me that I can't go visit my best friend in the hospital. He sends my boyfriend to come pick me up, but my boyfriend has been in the hospital with his brother all week. And then I spill all of my flour, two glasses of wine, shatter my favorite wine glasses and cut my foot open. And, this is the kicker," she said jabbing her finger in his chest, "my fucking boyfriend yelled at me."

He hung his head, "I am truly sorry for yelling at you, love."

"I know. Was that really the last of the wine?"

He nodded, "it was. Were you really going to make cupcakes at 10:00 at night?"

She nodded, "maybe it wasn't one of my better ideas."

"No, maybe it wasn't. Is there anything left in the kitchen we can eat without you hurting yourself or making a mess?"

"I think I have microwave popcorn. And a bottle of soda."

"I'll make the popcorn. And I'll pour the soda into plastic cups," he got up from the couch and stretched before walking to the kitchen.

"You aren't funny."

"Abby, I love you with all my heart, but I really don't want you to spill anything else on me tonight, I am running out of clean shirts."

She snorted, "I guess I love you too."

"Not exactly the heart felt declaration of love I was hoping for, but I guess I'll take what I can get," he said hitting the popcorn button on the microwave.


	22. Playing Catch Up

Wade sat in the office at his brother's house, and against Marci's wishes, the two men reviewed work things. Harv hadn't been in the office in a couple of weeks and there were things he just needed to review.

"Well, little bro, I gotta admit, you did a stellar job while I was laid up," Harv said with a grin.

"Yeah, maybe so, but it damn near killed me, I can't do 50 and 60 hour weeks for very long," he said firing off an email to Cynthia. "Plus, I barely got to spend any time with Abby."

"So, you are still hanging in there with her, huh?"

Wade glared at his brother, "Don't start."

"Its good to see you as a one woman man, but if you have any doubts, Abby doesn't deserve to be hurt. Its been so long since you settled your sights on one special lady."

"Yeah, well, I'm different now."

"No you aren't. You were different before, this is the real you. You finally let your walls down again."

"I did not have walls up," he said defensively.

"You did. After the witch left you, you went after women who didn't want relationships, women who just wanted to party and ride in your fancy car. Gold diggers and party girls," he said shaking his head, "Poor mum, seeing your ugly mug in the tabloids all the time, always with a different girl."

"Come on Harv, you are exaggerating," he looked at his brother who just shook his head again. "Well, Abby is different, she's everything I didn't know I needed," he said, "Even when I was worried about you, she was always on my mind."

"That my dear brother, is what love is about. I never stop thinking about Marci or the kids, they are always on my mind in one way or another. A story I need to remember to tell her at dinner, or some cute stickers in the deli that the kids would love."

Wade was quiet for a long time, "So, with Marci, how did you know you wanted to be with her forever?"

Harv's head popped up, "well, if you are even thinking about it, part of you already knows the answer."

Wade nodded and abruptly changed the subject, "So, when will you be cleared to come back to work?"

"Doctors already cleared me. It's the missus that's keeping me home," he said shaking his head.

Wade laughed, "I'll see if I can convince her to at least let you work from home. Unless she wants to have both Barrett brothers convalescing in her house!"

* * *

Abby climbed into Dani's SUV and they headed out shopping to pick up a few things for their friend. "Low amniotic fluid," Dani said shaking her head, "Poor Sav is stuck to an IV for the rest of her pregnancy."

"But, the doctors said she's got a really solid chance of carrying the baby to term as long as she stays put," Abby replied. "Let's swing by the craft store, remember when we all took up needlepoint? That should at least keep Sav busy for a little while."

"Oh yeah! Man that was fun, I still have the pillow cases I embroidered. Maybe she can make cute little baby things."

"And we can get some beads for Ariel while we are there, she needs something to distract her too."

"Well, this afternoon she will have the twins distracting her," Dani said laughing. "Poor Dean is stuck with all three kids."

"Don't worry, Ariel will help him keep track of the twins," Abby said patting her friend's shoulder.

"Yeah, its more like, poor Ariel is stuck with all three kids!" Dani said gliding into a parking spot.

Abby's phone buzzed, she checked the screen to see a message from Wade, she grinned and unlocked her phone to reply.

"Oh that has to be from Wade," her friend said.

"What makes you assume that?"

"Oh, just the hearts in your eyes and the nauseating way you sighed before unlocking your phone," she replied getting out of the car.

"What? No. I did not sigh,' Abby huffed following her friend.

"Oh no, not you, not at all, keep telling yourself that missy, but you are in deep."

"I am not."

"Does he have clothes at your house? A toothbrush? What about his house? How much stuff do you have there? Woman, he let you borrow his top of the line shiny ass Jaguar."

"So? What's your point?"

"The boys already call him Uncle Wade. And Ariel asked Sav if you were going to ask her to be your flower girl when you get married to Wade."

"Whoa, hold up, Uncle Wade? Flower girl? Married? No way, not a chance, not happening," she said adamantly.

"And why not? What's so bad about being a married woman?" Dani demanded putting her hands on her hips.

"Nothing! Nothing at all. You are a great wife and mom. So is Sav. I just, I don't think I'm ready for that."

"Well, you won't find a better man than the one you've got," Dani said, "He's smart, he's funny, he's got his own business and money and certainly he loves his family. And he legit seems to enjoy putting up with your clumsy ass. How many things have you spilled on him?"

Abby folder her arms across her chest, "Are we going to shop or what?"

"Oh, we will shop, but this isn't over, just wait until we get to the hospital, Sav has a ton to say to you."

"Its my lucky day," Abby said walking into the craft store, "I just love being double teamed by my friends."

* * *

Later that night, Wade and Abby sat on opposite sides of the couch in sweatpants and t-shirts with their laptops open and a stack of file folders sitting between them as they responded to all the emails they had been neglecting over the last few days. Abby groaned, "I'm going to have to set up a conference call with my Paris client at some point."

Wade grunted, "Yeah, and looks like I'm going to have to make trip to Brooklyn to check on some permits."

"Ew, traffic in Brooklyn sucks."

"Tell me about it, I'll have to take a bloody taxi. No way I'm parking the Jag in downtown Brooklyn."

"I can't even blame you one bit for that," she agreed.

Wade replied to the last email in his inbox and looked over at Abby, she was still typing away and frowning at her screen. "You hungry, love?"

"Hmm? Yeah, dinner would be a good idea," she muttered.

"Let's go out, we haven't done anything just the two of us in quite some time."

"I dunno, what if…"

"What if what? Harvey has been cleared to work from home and he's currently got his feet up on the sofa watching Disney movies with Marci and the kids. Sav is exactly where she needs to be and is feeling better than she has in months. Roman and Ariel are with Dean and Dani and the twins."

"Well…"

"And we both have cell phones, and everyone under the sun knows our number. So, even if something were to go terribly wrong, we are just a phone call away."

Abby smiled, "I guess you are right. I could totally go for a steak right now."

"That's my girl!" Wade cheered whisking her laptop away and setting it on the table. "Let's get you showered and dressed and we will be on our way."

"Hey, I'm not the only one who could use a shower, you know," she said waving her hand in front of her nose.

"Oh that's it, you are in trouble now," he said lifting her off the couch and tossing her over his shoulder.

"Hey! No, put me down!"

He squeezed her ass, "Not until I teach you a lesson."

She swatted at his back and kicked her legs trying to loosen his grip on her, which only made him laugh and hold her tighter, "Now, now, don't struggle too much, wouldn't want me to drop you."

"You would never," she gasped.

He gently let her feet hit the floor in the bathroom and brushed her hair from her face, his pale eyes filled with emotion, "You are right, love, you called my bluff. I could never hurt you."

She stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek, "Stop being all sappy now, I want my steak."

"Well, then we better save time and shower together," he said waggling his eyebrows at her.

She made a show of huffing and rolling her eyes, but she grinned at him and yanked his sweats down, "After you, Mr. Barrett."


	23. Coincidence?

"Earth to Abby! Heyyyyyy Abby!" Fred shouted, his palms flat on her desk.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, that sounds good, schedule it," she said.

"Abigail DiNardo you have not heard a single word I've said to you in the last ten minutes."

"I did! I was totally listening." She lied.

Fred crossed his arms over his chest, "Oh? OK, so then what exactly did you just tell me to schedule?"

"Errrr…. A meeting? A conference call? A dental cleaning?" she guessed wildly as Fred shook his head at her. She sighed, "OK fine, I have no idea what you said, my mind was somewhere else entirely. Start over."

"A vacation. You need a vacation. When was the last time you went away?"

"I spent a week down at the Jersey shore with my parents," she replied.

"That was two years ago and you worked from the Point Pleasant library almost every day."

"Well, its not my fault my parents don't have wifi! I mean, I even had the Verizon guy go down there and everything! My dad kicked him out."

"Abigail, my dear sweet workaholic Abigail, when one goes on vacation, one does not camp out at the library writing reports on one's laptop."

"Well, if I remember correctly, you called me shrieking about the client wanting their draft documents a week earlier than we planned," she said narrowing her eyes at him.

"Shrieking is a bit of an exaggeration, don't you think?"

"Not at all. But anyway, I appreciate your concern, Freddy, but I don't think a vacation will help," she said massaging her temples.

"Oh? Still worried about Savana and the baby?" he asked.

"Yeah, among other things. But yeah," she said pushing away the mental image of Ariel in a flower girl dress, tossing rose petals down the aisle.

"How about you take an early lunch, get yourself a couple gallons of coffee and we will start over when you get back?"

"Great idea, a walk through the city always helps clear my mind," she said standing up and grabbing her purse.

She grabbed an extra large coffee from the first food truck she passed and started wandering aimlessly through the city until she found herself standing outside Tiffany's staring at the window display. The stunning display of diamond engagement rings, each one twinkling in the sunlight. Dani's words ran through her mind on a loop, "_you won't find a better man than the one you've got_" and she didn't doubt that statement one bit, but was he really the marrying type? Was she the marrying type? Sure, she almost did it once before, but she just chalked that up to being young and stupid and easily swayed by romantic words. But Wade, he was totally different, he was always true to his word, he never even told her a white lie. He knew how she liked her coffee and what kind of wine she liked and the Brit in him made an excellent cup of tea, and more important than anything else, he knew exactly when she needed each one.

"Penny for your thoughts, love."

Abby jumped, spilling her coffee and spun around to stare at Wade in utter shock, "Where did you come from?"

"That way," he said nodding behind him and handing her a napkin. Ever since he met Abby, he always made sure to have a few napkins in his pockets, the poor thing always seemed to need one.

"What are you doing roaming the city streets in the middle of the work day?" she asked avoiding his gaze.

"Well, I could ask you the same question," he retorted.

"I annoyed Fred, so he kicked me out of the office," she shrugged, "I needed some fresh air and some caffeine, so started walking and thinking and then stopped walking but kept thinking."

He laughed, "Fair enough. I'm here to pick up something that Harv ordered for Marci. See anything that catches your eye?" he added raising an eyebrow and looking at the display that held his girlfriend's attention.

"Me? Um, no, just um, not at all…" she stuttered.

"Well then, I suppose I'll have to surprise you."

"What? Surprise me? Why?"

"Just thought I'd shop around for something sparkly for you to wear to the thingy on Friday night."

"The thingy?"

He sighed, "You remember, for the children's hospital?"

"OH! Right! Is that one black tie? Or no?"

"But of course, I have to make sure I get my money's worth out of that tux," he said with a wink.

"And you do look rather handsome in it."

"Why thank you love, now you best get back to the office before Fred sends out a search party."

"Very true," she laughed, "See you tonight?"

"Of course," he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close, planting a kiss on her lips, "I'm looking forward to it. I'll bring dinner."

"Something light and simple," she said, "I need to squeeze myself into another cocktail dress."

He grinned, "You look stunning in all of your cocktail dresses."

She rolled her eyes, "you just like to stare at my boobs."

"No, love, I like to watch other men stare at your boobs and then see their faces fall when I walk over and wrap my arms around you."

She grabbed the lapels of his suit jacket and stood on her tippy toes, "You are such a jerk," she said before kissing him. He groaned and pulled her even closer to him, boldly plunging his tongue between her lips. She broke the kiss and smiled at him, "See you tonight, big man."

He watched her until she turned the corner, how coincidental that he found her standing outside Tiffany's looking at engagement rings, if only she gave him some clues as to what she liked.

"Sorry I'm late, little bro, Marci had a million and one questions," Harv said coming up behind him.

"Perfect timing, any sooner and you would have blown my cover," he replied and hurried to fill is brother in.

Harvey slapped his brother's back, "Well, then I'd say you two are on the same page!"

"I don't know, she wasn't exactly looking dreamy and starry eyed. I wonder if she was even really looking. She was so deep in thought she didn't even notice me standing next to her."

"Getting cold feet already?"

"No, I just don't think either one of us is ready for this. But, I can still buy her something else. Something that's not an engagement ring."

"Tennis bracelets are always the way to go."

Wade laughed, "No, not for my Abby, she'd get it caught on something and disaster would surely follow. I think a necklace is a much better idea."

"Well, can't hurt to take a look at the rings anyway, you never know, the perfect ring for your perfect woman could be inside that store right now."

"Harvey Barrett, I've known you my entire life and I never knew you were such a romantic," he said looking at his brother in awe.

He shrugged, "No sense in wasting time, we're here, let's go look."

Wade followed his brother into the store, his mind racing, engagement rings, necklaces, charity events, and what to get for dinner tonight.

* * *

Abby raced into the office with another giant cup of coffee, her mind still racing, of all the places to stop and of all the places to run into Wade! There are hundreds of stores in the city and she stops outside Tiffany's just went he's about to run an errand for his brother. She slumped down in her office chair and banged her head on her desk, "stupid, stupid, stupid," she muttered.

"The walk was supposed to clear your mind, not make you more insane," Fred said from the doorway. "Can you stop? I don't want to clean your brains off the desk."

"Sorry, Freddy, I'm ready to work, I promise, come on, sit down and lets go through your list."

Three hours and a pot of coffee later, Abby and Fred got through all of their outstanding items and shut down their computers. "Abs, don't' worry so much about Sav, she's in the best place she could be right now. I know its gotta be a strain being away from her family, but she's gonna be OK."

Abby smiled, "Thanks Fred. Logically, I know you are right but I'll always worry about my girl. See you tomorrow."

They parted ways once they made it outside _If only that were the only thing on my mind,_ she thought making the decision to walk the ten blocks to her apartment instead of taking the train.

* * *

**_A/N: Just a wee little update to remind us all where things left off with Abby and her big Brit and their circle of loved ones. Harv is healing up and ready to see his little brother make some permanent decisions. Savana is still hanging in there, as are Roman and little princess Ariel. Dean and Dani and their crazy twins are the drama free group, who would have ever guessed that Dean Ambrose would be the most stable one? _**

**_Thanks to all of you for being patient, although, a little nagging may have gotten me moving faster on this. ;-)_**


	24. Ballerinas and Milkshakes

Abby had been unusually quiet the since their chance encounter outside Tiffany's earlier in the week, Wade wasn't sure if it was because of that awkward conversation or because of any of the other major things that could be on her mind. He knew that no matter what happened, she would continue to be preoccupied because of Savana and nothing will change until she is home safe and sound with a healthy baby. He didn't buy a ring that day, but he did get a stunning necklace. The sapphire pendant caught his eye the minute he walked past the display case, he stopped dead in his tracks, almost causing Harv to plow into him. The salesman blabbered about carat weight and how it was surrounded by brilliant diamonds, it was all he could do not to snort when he described the sapphire as "velvety". He made up his mind to buy it before the bloody tool even knew he was there, but he figured the guy might as well earn his commission.

He had his feet up on his desk and the box open, admiring the way the stones twinkled in the light and knowing it would look stunning on Abby when Cynthia knocked on his door, "Wade, your 3 PM is running late, traffic is at a standstill on the West side. Ohhhh! Is that for Abby? Can I see it?"

He grinned and plopped his feet on the floor and passed the tiny velvet box across his desk to her, she let out a dreamy sigh, "It's gorgeous, Wade. Oh, she's going to love it."

"I believe you are right."

"Then why are you staring at with that weird look on your face?"

"What look?"

She rolled her eyes, "The same look you gave Harvey when he bought you a salad for lunch."

"Well, let's just say that similar to the rabbit food, its not the item I was expecting to walk out of the store with."

"Should I ask what you were expecting to walk out of the store with?" She replied closing the box and giving it back to her boss.

"I'll show you," he said picking up his phone and unlocking the screen, "They really do have an app for everything. Did you know Tiffany's has an app?" She simply shook her head no, so he continued to ramble on and on as he tapped his screen to get to the image he wanted her to see, "What do you think?" he asked tentatively.

She gasped, "Oh my god, Wade, its amazing."

"I was thinking 2 carats, the classic Tiffany's style, I mean, its simple and clean but also grabs your attention at the same time," he looked up at her, "Do you think she will like it?"

Cynthia nodded, "Yes, absolutely. I'm so happy for you, Wade, god, you deserve to be happy. And Abby, she is just perfect. I haven't seen you so happy, like ever, I don't think."

"I just, I don't know if she will say yes," he said taking his phone back, "She doesn't seem to expect me to stick around, she's hinted at it few times, but her friends and Harv, they all basically told me that if I don't plan on staying forever that I need to let her go. And I'm not planning on letting her go, Cynthia, I can't live without this woman."

"Well, my advice, is tell her, tell her that you don't plan on doing a single thing without her by your side. Personally, there's no reason why you can't bring up the topic before popping the question. Communication is key in all relationships. Oh! That's the intercom, your 3PM must be here."

* * *

Abby checked emails on her phone while she waited for Ariel to get ready for her ballet class, poor Roman was running himself ragged trying to make sure her routine stayed as normal as possible, but a work related crisis demanded his attention.

"OK, Aunt Abby, I'm ready. Can we stop and see Mommy after my class?"

"How about I text her and your dad and make sure its OK? But you know what they will ask first right?" she said locking up the house and heading to the car.

"I did all my homework Aunt Abby! I promise! Please can we go see mommy?"

"I believe you kiddo! Let's take it one step at a time, first ballet class, then we see if mommy is up to having visitors," she said carefully not wanting to make a promise she didn't know if she could keep.

She got to the dance studio with just enough time to spare and snapped a picture of her little princess with her cell phone, she send the picture to both Roman and Savana _"This little lady did all her homework and wants to see her mommy after class. I'll bring her and some milkshakes if its all good with mom and dad."_

She thought for a moment and then fired off a text to Wade with the same picture, _"Got called in to supervise the little angel. Rain check on dinner?"_

Her phone buzzed almost immediately, _"Yes! Please bring me my baby girl! And a strawberry milkshake! And another book."_

Roman's text came right after his wife's, _"Now, now baby, I know you miss her, but its still a school night. Don't keep our girl out too late."_

Abby giggled to herself before replying to her friends, _"Not to disagree with the big man, but Ariel really wants to see Sav. Even if its just a few minutes, I promise I won't keep her out too late."_

Less than hours later, Ariel skipped ahead of Abby down the hall in the hospital, still in her ballet tights and legwarmers, armed with bags of chicken nuggets and French fries. Abby greeted the nurses and dropped off a tray of cookies at their station and found out that Savana was doing well but was showing obvious signs of cabin fever. They all agreed that a visit from Ariel would cheer her up at least for a little while.

"Hey! Save some for me," she said handing over the strawberry milkshake while Ariel and Sav inhaled French fries.

"Listen lady, don't fool me, I know you ate some in the car on the way here!" Sav said pointing a fry at her friend and making Ariel giggle.

"Mommy, I made you something in art class today," she said pulling a piece of construction paper out of her folder. "See? That's me and you and Daddy and the baby. It's a picture of the future, because look how tall I am."

"Oh wow, you are almost as tall as Daddy!"

She nodded her head, "Because you will be here for 5 more months and by then I will super tall."

Abby covered her laugh by slurping some of her chocolate shake, "Well, I think this picture is perfect. Should I hang it up on your wall, Mommy?"

"Of course, Abs, put it next to the one of the rainbow." Abby nodded and added Ariel's latest drawing to the massive collection on her friend's wall. When she turned back around Ariel was curled up in a ball resting her head on her mother's shoulder.

"I'll give you a few minutes of privacy," she said gathering up the trash from their dinner. She promised Roman she'd have Ariel home early, but he didn't have to heart to break this up. She sent Roman a quick text to let him know that his two girls clearly needed some alone time and then looked down at her shirt and saw a giant glob of chocolate, figures…

Her phone buzzed just as she was dabbing at the stain on her shirt and realized all she did was make it worse. She sighed and looked at her phone, then smiled when she saw it was a text from Wade. _"What's going on love? How's the little princess?"_

_"The little princess and her mommy have having some private time. And I spilled chocolate on my boob."_

_"Come to my place, I'll take care of that chocolate boob problem."_

She rolled her eyes and started to make her way back to Savana's room when she bumped into Roman in the halls, "Go on home, Abs. I'll stay for a while. Ariel fell asleep and I'm gonna let her stay until Sav falls asleep too."

"You big mush! You can't bear to break them up either!" she said slapping his arm.

He laughed, "No, I can't, I love to see my two girls together. Thanks for helping out, I know it was last minute."

"Anytime, Roman," she said giving him a hug. "I mean it, anytime. Even if you just want to take a nap. I told Ariel we can go out for manicures one day."

"My little girly girl would love that," he said scratching his beard.

"And I would love it if you shaved and had a healthy meal and put your feet up for a few hours."

He sighed, "God Abs, I wish I could, but I can't sit home on the couch while I know Sav is here alone. Its bad enough I can't get here every night."

"You are an amazing husband and father. And Sav knows you are doing the best you can for Ariel right now, cut yourself some slack."

"Thanks Abby. Now go home. Or go to Wade's. Or wherever it was you were planning on going tonight. I'll text you tomorrow."

She eyed her friend critically and then said goodbye and made her way back to the parking garage. She called Wade as she was walking to the car. "Parking garages terrify me," she said as soon as she heard his voice.

"So you are calling me to give you the courage to get back to the car?"

"No. So you can call 911 if I get attacked," she said pushing the alarm button on the car key. "Where the hell is that car?"

Wade snorted, "You watch far too many crime shows, you, my love, are far more likely to trip in a pothole."

"Maybe," she agreed, "oh! There's the car."

"Come over, you can park Sav's car in my driveway and bring it back over the weekend, its too late to drive back to the city tonight."

She laughed, "It's not even 8:00. I'll be home by 9:00."

"But you can be in my bed by 8:20."

"Hmmm... tough call," she teased, "I'll have to weigh the pros and cons."

"It's quite simple, really, the pros include me and my bed and the cons include you alone in your bed."

"You make a very valid point, Mr. Barrett, I'll be there in 20 minutes," she said starting the engine and peeling out of the parking garage. She disconnected the call but not before she heard him laughing about her burning rubber.


	25. Champagne Shower

Wade chatted with Harv while they waited for their ladies to return from the restroom, he was still grinning over her reaction to the necklace. "She loved it, Harv. I thought she was going to cry."

"See, you knew it was perfect, why were you obsessing over it? I thought I was going to have to share my TUMS with you," he said with a smirk.

"Hey, I thought you were all better, why do we still need TUMS?" Abby asked nervously.

Marci laughed and squeezed her hand, "No, silly, he was making fun of this big goof who was terrified you wouldn't like that stunning necklace."

"Well, I think terrified is a rather strong word," Wade said sheepishly.

Abby looked up at Wade, her eyes glittering, "You were really worried? It's gorgeous, its hands down the most beautiful piece of jewelry I've ever owned."

"Excuse me! Ms. DiNardo! A picture of you and your date please?" The event photographer called out, his camera ready to snap away.

Wade snorted, "Well that's a change, normally its Mr. Barrett and his date." He put his arm around her and rested his hand protectively on her hip, "Come now, love, make it look like you adore me."

"Of course I adore you, my big goof," she laughed placing her hand on his chest and smiling for the camera.

"Now all four of you," he shouted waving his hands towards Harv and Marci. The two couples stood close and posed. "Check the website tomorrow," he yelled over his shoulder as he made his way through the ballroom looking for his next shot.

Abby stood on her tiptoes and kissed Wade on the cheek, "Come on, let's go check out the hors-d'oeuvres."

"That's my girl, always has her priorities in order."

"What? If it wasn't for that photographer, we'd be eating by now!" she exclaimed as her stomach let out a growl.

* * *

After chatting with acquaintances and business associates and filling up on appetizers, the two couples picked up their place cards and found their table in the middle of the dining room, they settled down and fell into a comfortable conversation. The server placed their salad plates down and Marci immediately gave Harv her tomatoes and he scooped his onions out of his dish and into hers.

"Awww, see, that's love right there," Abby said. "You really need to love someone in order to share your food."

Wade rolled his eyes, "So, the way to your heart is by plopping some sad looking cherry tomatoes in your dish?"

"Ew, no! More like some juicy shrimp!"

"Listen," Marci said pointing her fork at her brother-in-law, "you two are just as lovey dovey and if you don't watch it, I'm gonna start pointing it out every single time."

"We are not lovey dovey!" Abby said pointing her fork back at Marci.

Harv let out a booming laugh, "Yeah, OK, sure, that's why my brother has a wallet filled with Shout stain remover wipes."

"That's a survival tool!" Wade responded dryly.

"Rude, so rude," Abby said pretending to pout.

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and kissed her forehead, "But, I've saved some of your favorite shirts with my secret stash, haven't I love?"

She grinned and squeezed his thigh, "And I believe I've shown you how much I appreciated that, haven't I?"

"See! That's it! Right there!" Marci said, "Look at you two, you know there's other people here, right?"

"There certainly are other people here," a voice said from behind. Wade groaned loudly, he knew the voice instantly, he didn't even need to turn around. Harv and Marci groaned too, Abby turned around saw a tall, leggy blond in a skin tight purple cocktail dress and sky high stilettos staring a hole into her, she turned back and looked at her companions in utter confusion.

"Who?"

"Go away, Summer," Marci said rudely.

"Well, I see you haven't domesticated her yet," she said tossing her hair over her shoulder. "Hi Wade," added in a singsongy voice.

He grunted and pulled Abby closer to him, still not even bothering to turn around. "Looks like he doesn't want to talk to you," Marci blurted out, "So, I'll repeat myself – go away, Summer."

She huffed and turned away, leaving the two couples in a strained silence. Abby opened her mouth to ask what the hell just happened when the waiter returned again with their main courses, "Who ordered the fish?" he asked as he set the large tray down on a stand near the table.

They all had their dinners in front of them and Abby decided to let it go for the time being since she had an amazing filet mignon and mashed potatoes sitting in front of her. She poked Wade with her elbow and wiggled her eyebrows at him when he looked over at her.

"I love you, Abs," he said with an oddly serious tone.

"Is that your way of asking to taste my steak?"

"Not really, but if you are offering…"

"Nope! But I do love you too."

He shook his head and turned back to his dish, he tried his best to make it look like he was eating, but really his blood was boiling. How dare she come up to him like this and after all these years, who does she think she is? He felt his brother eyeing him so he looked up, Harv looked at him and then over at Abby who was quietly eating her dinner and very obviously trying not to spill anything. Wade looked over at her and couldn't help but smile, god he loved that woman, he nodded at his brother. He got it, Harv was reminding him that he had the perfect woman sitting next to him and not to fuck it up.

"Dammit!' Marci muttered and grabbed her napkin, "I love this dress."

"No! Don't rub," Abby said, "Come on, I'm an expert at these things."

"Ugh, its lemon butter sauce from the fish, it's never going to come out."

"Why do you think I ordered the steak?" Abby said taking the Shout wipes from Wade's tux jacket pockets.

"Because you love steak," Wade said patting her ass as she walked by.

"See! Again!" Marci said rolling her eyes as Abby dragged her off to the ladies room.

"Well, I do like steak," Abby admitted once they were in the ladies room, "But really, its because it rarely has sauce on it, and once I get a dish full of sauce, its only a matter of time before I spill it."

Marci laughed, "You two really are perfect together, I was teasing before, you know that, right?"

Abby looked up at her friend, "Of course I do! I just wonder how long this whole thing will last."

"What do you mean? With Wade?" Marci asked gently, noticing the little bit of sadness that crept into Abby's voice.

"Well, yeah, I mean, with women like that blond out there, I know I'm not his type," she said patting the stain gently and fanning her hand over it to hurry up the drying process.

"Sweetie, you have nothing to worry about, especially not from that thing."

Abby frowned and looked from Marci back down to the stain on her dress, "There, its good as new, lets go on back to the boys."

"Impressive, you can barely see it," she said in awe.

"Yup, we are the only ones who know it's even there."

They walked out of the ladies room and made their way back to the table, "My brother in law is head over heels in love with you," Marci said, "He wouldn't know what to do without you."

Abby froze dead in her tracks, her jaw dropping, "I know what he would do," she whispered.

Marci looked up and saw Summer draped across Wade drinking champagne from his glass and toying with his tie. "Oh hell no," Marci growled and stalked back to the table. "Hell. No."

"Thank goodness, Marci, get her the bloody hell off me," Wade growled when he saw her glowering at them.

"OK, OK, no reason to be all angry about it," Summer giggled. She set the champagne glass down on top of Abby's dinner dish and stood up, tugging her dress down. Before leaving she bent over, giving a full view down her dress and planted a noisy kiss on Wade's cheek. "I missed you, baby. You know where to find me." She tossed her hair and strolled away, her heels clicking on the floor.

Abby watched the whole thing from the middle of the room, she blinked and swallowed a few times before taking a few steps backwards. She bumped into a waiter carrying a tray full of champagne glasses, he struggled and managed to keep the tray from falling but half of the glasses toppled, spilling on Abby's head. She gasped "Oh my god! I'm so sorry," and bolted from the dining room.

Wade jumped up and tried to follow her but lost her in the chaos, she managed to bump into at least three more waiters in her haste to get away. His shoulders slumped and he went back to the table. "I don't know where she went."

"Probably the ladies room," Marci said. "Give me her purse."

"What? Why?"

"Because about a gallon of champagne just spilled on her head, she's gonna need something from that purse."

Wade reluctantly handed over her tiny black clutch, having no idea what could possibly be in such a small bag that could help Abby right now.

* * *

Abby was in the ladies room just staring at herself in the mirror, this was a nightmare. She was a total mess, there was no way she could manage to make herself look decent with hand soap and paper towels. She took a deep breath to steady herself when she heard the door open. She looked up and saw Marci, holding her purse.

"Abby, sweetie, I'm so sorry."

"I don't want to talk about it. I just want to go home."

"Abby, let Wade explain. Its really not as bad is it looked. Trust me."

"Thanks, Marci, but I'm not that stupid. I'm getting out of here." She took her purse and took out her cell phone, "I'll call a cab, don't worry, I'll be safe."

Marci sighed and stepped aside to let Abby leave, she knew there was nothing she could say that would convince her to stay. Hell the champagne shower alone was enough to run out of there. To her credit, Abby took a deep breath, stood up straight, held her head high and strolled out of the ladies room and off into the city, presumably to make her way back to her apartment. Now all Marci had to do was break it to Wade that she was gone.


	26. About Last Night

Abby woke up when she heard Savana's voice, she peeled her eyelids open and the events of the previous night came flooding back to her. She ran out of the charity dinner and hailed the first cab she saw, she remembered begging the man at the hospital front desk to let her in to see Savana. _Yes I know how late it is, yes, I understand, but its an emergency. Please._ The skeptical man called up to the maternity ward and luckily for Abby, the head nurse on shift remembered her bringing Ariel and a tray of cookies and Roman had put her name down as an emergency contact. He refused to let her go up alone and forced her to wait for a security guard to escort her up to the fourth floor and to the head nurse. She was curled up in a guest chair wrapped in a hospital blanket and smelling of stale champagne. She suppressed a groan and tried to listen to her friend's whispering.

"She's fine, well, she's mostly fine. She must have come straight here. Yeah, she told me everything. Well, you know, what happened before, so yeah, she's sensitive. I'll tell her when she wakes up. Nah, I won't tell Ambrose, he won't shoot your nuts off, well, not yet anyway."

"Ow! Hey, what was that for?" Abby yelped as her cell phone bounced off her arm and landed on the floor in front of her. She bent over to pick it up and smacked her head on the side of the hospital bed. "Owwww… aww come on, enough already," she whimpered holding her head.

"Eavesdropping, so mature, Abs."

"What? You did answer my phone."

"Wade has called and texted you every hour since you fell asleep. He was worried sick."

"Good," she muttered.

"Not cool, Abs, you didn't even give anyone a chance to explain."

"What? What do you know?"

"Well, while you were snoring, Marci called too. She convinced me to talk to Wade and not that its any of my business, but you need to hear him out."

"What did he tell you?"

"Nope, its his story to tell. Just keep in mind that you aren't the only one with a crazy ex."

"You are supposed to be on my side, Sav."

"I am on your side. You freaked out and you had every right to and really only you would wind up covered in champagne like that. But, now Wade has a right to explain himself."

Abby crossed her arms and grunted.

"Abs, this is different. Wade is nothing like that spoiled little shit Alex. From the way you described it, no one was happy to see this blond mess, especially not Wade. Right?"

"Maybe," she admitted still not looking at her friend.

"He's been sitting on your couch staring at your front door waiting for you to come home all night. I heard the panic in his voice, Abs. He was thinking of all the horrible things that could happen to a woman wandering the streets of Manhattan alone late at night. Plus all the things that could only happen to you."

Abby could feel her friend giving her the mom look, she stubbornly refused to look up, "Can't I stay here? Don't you want company?"

"Oh, I do want company, but not company that smells like you smell right now."

"Ouch."

"Go home. Talk to Wade. Maybe consider showering."

"I hate you."

"You love me and you know it. Now get out of here, your stench is making me queasy."

"Fine. See ya preggo."

"Text me when you get home."

* * *

A short time later Abby was unlocking the door to her apartment, Wade jumped up and pulled her into his arms, "Abby! You are OK. Oh god, I was so worried. Eww, you stink."

She pushed him away, "Yeah, Sav said the same thing. And the cab driver insisted on opening all the windows."

"Abby…" Wade followed her to the bathroom, only to have the door slammed in his face. "Well, OK, you shower and I'll put on a pot of coffee."

About 20 minutes later Wade looked up and saw her standing in the kitchen, he was relieved to see her wearing one of his tshirts, her hair was still mostly wet and starting to curl. She couldn't be too mad at him if she was still poaching his clothes. He poured her a cup of coffee, "Have you actually listened to Manic Street Preachers yet?"

She smirked and shook her head, "But you gotta admit this shirt looks way better on me than it does on you."

"Love, everything looks better on you."

She fiddled with the necklace he bought her, another good sign, he thought, she was still wearing the necklace, "I'm assuming that since you didn't flush that necklace down the toilet, you aren't going to pour that hot coffee in my lap."

She shrugged, "Not on purpose anyway. I don't exactly have the best track record."

"Can I explain? You know, about last night?"

She nodded, "Sav says I have to hear you out."

"Well, thank god for Sav. I'm sure she appreciated your late night visit."

"She's been having trouble sleeping," Abby said with a shrug and walked over to the couch.

He followed her to the living room and sat across from her in an armchair, stretching his long legs out, almost touching hers. "So, I guess you figured out her name is Summer."

"Is that her real name?" Wade nodded, "Jeez, what is it with people? Bambi, Summer… And I thought Abigail was a crappy name. Sorry," she added sheepishly, "you should finish."

"Her parents are hippies. But anyway, we were together a long time ago. Engaged to be exact." Wade paused to give her a chance to digest what he said, her eyes widened and she waited for him to continue. "I gave her everything she ever could have wanted. Clothes, shoes, jewelry, even a car. We had this huge circus of a wedding planned. And then, well, she didn't show up."

Abby's head popped up, "What? Ow! Dammit! I should have put pants on, wow the coffee is hot." She moved her mug to the end table and grabbed a napkin to dry off the coffee that spilled on her leg while turning her attention back to Wade.

"You should never wear pants," he said with a wink, "But, yeah, I was there, all our guests were there, but she wasn't."

"Holy shit," she muttered.

"Yup. That was five years ago. Last night was the first time I saw her since two nights before the day we were supposed to be married. A few weeks after, I heard that she left the country."

"I guess she's back."

He snorted, "Apparently. And she's hunting for a new sugar daddy."

"Do you still…"

"No. Nope. Not even a little." He said cutting her off, "Harv and Marci and pretty much everyone I knew at the time, told me she was using me, that she didn't love me and that I was essentially just walking dollar signs to her. But, no, of course, I didn't want to hear it, swore we were in love."

"Why did you let her sit in your lap like that?" she blurted out, "Why! I mean… just why…."

"What was I supposed to do? Shove her away? Oh because that would have gone over well."

Abby shrugged, "I guess… but she put her glass in my mashed potatoes!"

"Actually, it was my glass, she appeared out of nowhere and took it from my hand."

"She's got nerve. And really long legs…"

Wade nodded, "She does. And?"

"If your legs are that long, why do you need to wear such high heels?"

He laughed, "You're jealous, aren't you?"

"No! Maybe a little. OK fine, yes."

"Abby, you are gorgeous and sexy and light years more intelligent than her. And you have way better boobs."

"Its always about the boobs with you, isn't it?" she asked rolling her eyes.

He nodded and winked, "Hell yes."

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have freaked out. I just, well, I freaked out," she finished looking down at her lap.

"I imagine it looked pretty damned bad," he admitted.

"Marci tried to talk me into staying, so I hope you weren't too hard on her when she came back without me."

"Nah, love, Marci doesn't know that its damn near impossible to talk you into anything."

"Why didn't you tell me you were engaged?"

He sighed and raked his hand through his hair, "I don't know. I suppose I had plenty of chances to bring it up. Not very manly of me to let myself be used like that."

"Oh please, I'll bet you two looked smashing together."

"Smashing, huh?"

She grinned, "it seemed appropriate."

They sat quietly for a few minutes, before Abby finally had the nerve to ask "Do you still love me?"

"What? Abs, of course!" He put his own coffee down next to hers and moved to sit next to her. He placed both his hands on her face, making her look him in the eyes, "Abigail DiNardo, I love you more than anything. You are the most important person in my life."

Her eyes welled up with tears, "I love you too Wade Barrett, even if you are an evil British villain."

He barked out a laugh, "Why must us Brits always be labelled the villains?"

"Well, I mean, its the accent, and let's be honest, the Jag that seals the image for you."

"Is that bad? I'll get rid of it. What should I get instead? A beemer? Lexus? I know, a Chevy!"

"Oh stop it, I love that car almost as much as you do. And I do love having my own villain."

He cupped the back of her head and wrapped one arm around her waist, pulling her into his lap and kissing her lips, gently at first, until she wrapped her legs around his waist and rubbed herself against him. He growled and nibbled at her bottom lip, "Now, why don't you tell me exactly what you've got on under my favorite tshirt?"

She shrugged and kissed his neck before whispering in his ear, "Maybe you should find out for yourself."

His big hands were under her shirt and traveling up her back in less than a second, "No bra, I like that," he murmured, then his hands went down, "but undies, nah, I don't like that."

She smirked and copied him, putting her hands under his shirt and pushing it up, "nah, I don't like your shirt."

He pulled it over his head and threw it on the floor, "anything for you."

She pressed her lips against his and let her hands roam across his chest and shoulders, her fingers dusting across his muscles. He groaned and gripped her hips pressing her down against his hardness, she she moaned softly and wrapped her arms and legs tightly around him, sliding her tongue in his mouth.

He could feel her hard nipples pressing against his chest thru the fabric of the tshirt, as sexy as she looked in his shirt grinding against him, he had to get his mouth on her boobs. He leaned back on the couch and pulled her into him, his hands under her shirt and their lips still locked. When he couldn't wait any longer, he pulled the back of her shirt up to her shoulders and broke the kiss, "sorry love, but there's something I just have to do."

Her shirt was gone and he cupped both her breasts in his big strong hands, his eyes darkened with lust as he kneaded at her soft flesh. She moaned and rolled her hips against his still clothed groin, her juices soaking her cotton panties. He licked his lips and twirled her nipples between his thumb and forefinger before lowering his head and pulling one hard little nub between his lips. She gasped and moaned and tangled her fingers in his hair as he sucked and licked her tit. He pulled her nipple gently between his teeth before releasing it and moving his attention to the other one, sucking harder the louder she moaned. "Wade, oh god," she breathed looking down at him, his mouth wrapped around one boob and his hand kneading the other.

He twirled his tongue around her nipple and licked his way up to her neck while his hands caressed her stomach and back before tugging at her panties. "Off," he growled, his mouth next to her ear.

She shivered and shifted off his lap, pushing her hand down the waistband of his pants and wrapping her hand around his cock. She stroked him slowly, smirking as he groaned and let his head fall back against the couch. She swiped her thumb over the head smearing the precum, "you first big man."

He raised his hips and pushed his pants down to his knees, she kneeled next to him and pushed them down to his ankles and let him step out of them. Then she looked up at him and licked her lips before grasping the base of his dick and lowering her head. She wrapped her lips around the head and sucked eagerly savoring the surprised gasp and deep moans that escaped his throat. She bobbed her head taking more of his length into her mouth each time she went down. He growled her name and wrapped one hand in her hair, while the other one slipped behind her and between her thighs. She spread her legs and whimpered as he pet the wet fabric of her panties. He pushed them aside and thrust two long fingers inside her, "Abby, Abby, so wet, God love, so wet," he murmured thrusting in and out of her core. She moaned around his cock, as she rocked her hips back against his hand.

"Shit, Abs, stop," he gasped. She wiggled her hips and slowly pulled his cock out of her mouth, stopping to suck the head one last time.

He pulled her panties down and moved her back to his lap. "Jesus Abby," he said kissing her neck and gripping her hips.

He broke the kiss and raised her hips off his lap, she quickly grabbed his cock and positioned herself above him, they locked eyes and he nodded at her "please," he whispered.

She lowered herself down, his hard length stretching her. Her eyes fluttered and she moaned loudly, letting her hands travel slowly up his abs, tracing the lines of his muscles, his light chest hair tickling her fingertips. He moaned and held her head in both hands, peppering kisses across her cheeks and forehead before locking his lips onto hers and thrusting his tongue in her mouth. She groped at his shoulders, dragging her nails across the hard lines of his body while raising her hips slowly and slamming herself back down onto his lap. Their lips still locked in a sloppy kiss, both of them gasping and panting. He broke the kiss and took a deep breath before returning his attention to her breasts, kneading and licking and sucking her already hard nipples, she arched her back and pressed her chest against his mouth and dragging her nails down his back. He raised his hips to meet her thrusts making her cry out every time their bodies slammed together.

"Wade," she gasped as she ran her fingers through his hair, "Yessss."

He released her nipple and trailed kisses up her chest and sucked at her neck, his hands roaming her soft body. She whimpered his name as she rode him faster and harder, her walls starting to flutter around his hardness. "Yes, Abby, god, I love you."

She kissed him, draping her arms around his shoulders, raising and lowering her hips faster and faster, the wetter she got, the faster she slammed herself onto his cock. He pressed his forehead against hers, "Abby, my love, come for me."

He gripped her hips and pulled her down onto him as he raised his hips, pistoning his dick deeper into her silky wet core. She moaned and buried her face into his neck, digging her nails into his back, riding him as fast as she could, her body shaking and soft whimpers escaping from her lips. His big hands roamed up her back and he wrapped his arms around her pulling her body as close to him as he could. He felt her body stiffen in his arms before she cried out, her walls spasming around him. He thrust up into her hard and fast and growled her name as he reached his own release, coming deep inside her.

They sat like that, still panting, clutching each other, her head resting on his shoulder. "Abby, I love you. I don't know how to explain how much I love you."

She looked into his eyes and smiled, "You don't have to, I know, Wade."

He kissed her lips softly, "I love you too Wade," she whispered against his lips.

"Forever, Abs, I will love you forever."


	27. Cheers Mates!

"Please tell me that you two had the most amazing make up sex," Sav said as she popped a French fry in her mouth.

"Oh yes, do tell," Dani added with a smirk.

Abby felt her face flush, "yannow, this girls night was not set up so you two could critique my sex life."

"Oh yeah," Dani hooted, "That must have been some hot sex."

Abby huffed and finished pulling their meals from the take out bag, she placed the dessert box right in the middle of their tray and removed the cover doing her best impression of a game show hostess showing off the final prize, "For the main course tonight, we have double fudge cake with strawberry filling and a delightful whipped cream topping."

"Yummy," Sav said rubbing her hands together.

"Yeah, only someone who is having hot sweaty monkey sex would pick out a dessert like that," Dani said trying to control her laughter.

Abby plopped down in her chair on the opposite side of Sav's bed and unwrapped her sandwich. "Awww, ok, we're sorry, we'll stop talking about your amazing sex," Sav said, "Right, Dan?"

The other woman nodded sincerely, "Not another word. Scouts honor."

Abby rolled her eyes, "We were never in the girl scouts, don't give me that bull."

"No, but Dean wants to sign the twins up for cub scouts," Dani said before taking a big bite of her cheesesteak, "mmmm, this is awesome, Abs, you get the best take out."

"Oh yeah, great idea, teach those monsters how to tie knots," Sav said, "Dean will be tied up in the man cave for days before you go looking for him."

Dani wiggled her eyebrows, "Oh, I totally know how to make those kinds of knots already."

"Well hot damn, I totally walked into that one, didn't I?" Sav cackled.

Abby nodded, "You totally did."

They munched on their sandwiches quietly for a bit before Dani asked, "So, Abs, you called this emergency girls night. What's on your mind?"

Abby put her sandwich down and looked at her friends, "Well, I kinda, umm… you see… There's been something on my mind lately and I don't know how to make sense of it."

"Oh, this sounds big," Sav said nervously, "Its Wade, isn't it?"

She nodded, "I love him. It scares me how much I love him. Like I didn't think you could love someone like this."

Dani nodded, "I get you. But there's got to be more than just that, because you've been head over heels in love with that big goofball for a long time now."

Abby picked her sandwich up again and started examining it, she picked out a microscopic onion and wiped it on her napkin. "Abs, what else?" Sav prodded gently.

"I think he feels the same way," she said softly.

"Tell us," Dani said. "And stop picking at your sandwich, there are no onions in it."

"There are too," she said "they must have cooked your stupid cheesesteak too close to mine and the onions got in there and contaminated my chicken."

Sav rolled her eyes, "Abby, you are acting like the kids, eat your damned sandwich and tell us what makes you think he's crazy head over heels in love with you."

"Yeah, because the rest of the world already knows that, you are the only dummy who just figured it out."

"Dani! Be nice," Sav scolded, "Our girl doesn't have the best track record with men. She needs us now."

"You know, never mind, tell me more about the twins and cub scouts," Abby said. "Do they get cute little uniforms?"

"Abs, I'm sorry, come on, talk to us," Dani said.

"He said forever," she whispered.

"Forever what?" Sav asked.

"He'd love me forever," she said swallowing the lump in her throat. "That I'm the most important person to him."

"When did he say this?"

"Well, after the hot sweaty make up sex," Abby said smirking at her friend, "but its not the first time. I mean, he's kinda said stuff like that before. I just blew it off, yannow, because he's the smooth talking British ladies' man."

"So what changed?" Dani asked.

"The blonde? It was the blonde wasn't it?" Sav said.

Abby nodded, "Sav filled you in?" Dani nodded so she continued, "See, he's not like that. He was hurt. He was engaged and she blew him off."

"He put walls up just like you did," Dani stated nodding her head.

"But now you met each other and learned to open up and trust again," Sav said wiping the tears from her eyes, "Its so beautiful. I love you both so much."

"Hormones?" Abby asked.

Dani nodded, "Probably."

Just then Abby's cell phone rang, she dug it out of her purse and grinned, it was Wade. "'Ello Love!" He shouted as soon as she answered.

Abby snickered, "Hi Wade. I'm here with the girls."

"'Ello girls!" he said, followed by a chorus of "Hello lasses!"

"You are drunk aren't you?"

"Totally tankered love. The boys want to meet you."

"Aye! We need to see this lovely woman who stole the heart of the cranky ole' Brit! Ain't that right mate?"

"That's right!"

"Get your bloody faces away from my ear, I'm talking to my lady," Wade barked making his friends hoot in the background. "Sorry love, these fools are drunk."

"So are you!" Abby said laughing.

"I'm British, we know how to hold our liquor," he said "These two fools only wish they could."

"I'm Irish you arsehole, I'll drink you under the table. Forget this kilt wearing bastard."

"Hey! Scots can hold their beer!"

"Sounds like none of you can hold your beer," Abby said rolling her eyes.

"Listen love, we'll sober up in time for dinner tomorrow, I promise," Wade said, "I'll grill us some steaks."

"Ok, I'll drive out to your place after work."

"Oh and love, one more thing, can you bring the steaks?"

Abby sighed, "I'll stop by the butcher at lunch time."

"You're the best. I love you Abigail."

"I love you too Wade," she giggled, "Make sure you three idiots get a cab back ok?"

"Of course love! You have my car keys!" Wade said as his friends teased him in the background "oooo the lady has the keys to the Jag! Oh yeah, he's a goner."

"Shut up you bloody wankers," he hollered making Abby pull the phone away from her ear. "I'm sorry love, these idiots are drunk."

"Yes, I believe you mentioned that already," she said. "Try to stay out of trouble, OK?"

"Yes ma'am!" he slurred "Good night my love! And good night to the ladies too."

"Good night Wade," she replied disconnecting the call as a chorus of drunken good nights echoed in the background.

"What in the hell was that all about?" Dani said wide eyed.

"Your man is drunk off his ass!"

"His two college buddies are in the city for a few days," she said tucking her phone away. "You had to see him last night, he was so cute, asked me if it was OK to go out with them."

"Awwww, he's so in love with you," Sav said.

Dani nodded, "Do you two even officially live together? I mean you still have your place in the city and he has his suburban oasis."

"We usually stay at my place during the week and head out to his place on the weekends, either Friday night or Saturday morning depending on how we feel and traffic and stuff," she said.

"He was so drunk, oh my god," Dani said cracking up.

"And his friends were even more drunk!" Sav added.

"Yeah, I think I'll buy steaks, Gatorade and a vat of Advil," Abby laughed.

"Oh my god Abs, you are gonna meet his best friends," Dani squealed. "You already met his brother and sister in law and their kids and now you are going to meet his best friends."

"When is he going to meet your parents, Abs?" Sav asked popping the last French fry into her mouth.

Abby shrugged, "I dunno, I haven't thought about it. Guess we need to drive down to the shore at some point soon."

"What about his parents?"

"His mother still lives in Preston, she comes to the states once or twice a year and he goes to visit around Christmas time."

"Oooo, how lovely, you can kiss under the mistletoe and the Union Jack!" Dani giggled.

"God bless the Queen," Sav snorted.

"Isn't it God save the Queen?" Abby asked

"Why does she need to be saved?" Sav retorted.

Abby shrugged and passed out plastic forks, "Dessert time ladies!"

"Cheers, mates!" Dani said as they all burst into a round of giggles.


	28. Meet the Mates

Abby scooted out of the office early the next day in order to avoid rush hour traffic. She picked up the steaks and some veggies for Wade to toss on the grill, packed them in cooler just in case traffic was bad, and hopped in the Jag. She giggled as she caught herself stroking the steering wheel. Yeah, she loved this car, but what's not to love? It's a finely tuned well-oiled machine that could go from 0 to 60 in a mere 7 seconds, with a speedometer that tops out at 138 mph. It was times like this that she was thrilled that she convinced her boneheaded cousin to teach her to drive a manual car. She took a deep breath and remembered her number one favorite thing about this car, it smelled like Wade, woodsy and a little vanilla, just all out intoxicating. She pulled out into midtown traffic and headed towards the West Side Highway while she called her parents, her friends were right, it was time for Wade and her parents to meet.

"DiNardo Residence, how may I help you?"

Abby laughed, "You know daddy, you can answer the phone with a simple hello."

"Oh hi pumpkin! How are you?"

"I'm fine. Is mom home?"

"Nope, believe it or not, she's at BINGO."

Abby leaned on her horn as a taxi jumped in front of her, "Really? Who convinced mom to play BINGO?"

"Abigail! Are you talking while driving? You know that's not safe!"

"Relax Daddy, the car has blue tooth." After a minute of silence on the other end, she realized she needed to clarify, "It's totally hands free, it uses the car's speakers. I have both hands on the wheel and my eyes on the road. I didn't even have to touch my phone to call you, its all voice activated."

Her father grunted, "That's some fancy car."

"Daddy, you have the same thing in the car I bought you and mom last year, you just refuse to use it."

He grunted again, "You didn't need to do that for us, Pumpkin."

She sighed, here we go again, "Daddy, I really called to ask if I could come down to visit next weekend."

"Of course you can Pumpkin! You know you never have to ask."

"Well, I only ask because I wanted to bring someone," she said hesitantly, she hadn't brought a guy home since Alex.

"Oh, sure! The girls and their families are welcome anytime! I'll bet those kiddos are getting so big."

She laughed, "They sure are getting big. And any day now, Sav will have her second baby."

Her dad's voice got serious, "You tell that girl to keep strong. And Roman too, he's a good man."

"He is a good man, but, listen Daddy, I've been seeing someone for a while now and I want to bring him to meet you and Mom."

"A boy, huh?"

She rolled her eyes, "Yes, a boy."

"Does he play golf?"

She laughed, "Of course he plays golf! He's a successful businessman. Owns a company with his brother."

"What kind of business?"

"Real estate. He's worked with Roman several times."

"Roman approves?"

"He does. And so does Sav. And Dani and Dean too. Even the kids like him."

Her father grunted again, "We'll see what happens on the golf course then."

"Daddy! Promise you will be nice!" she shrieked.

"I will do no such thing, Pumpkin."

She sighed, "You'll see when you meet him, he's a good man."

"I'll be the judge of that."

She said goodbye to her father feeling very much like a teenager, begging her dad to be nice to her boyfriend. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all, the Barrett charm only worked on women, not overprotective fathers. She spent the rest of the drive chewing her lower lip trying to decide how to present the weekend trip to Wade. While she was sure he'd love to meet her parents, she wasn't sure that she was ready, it seemed like such a big step.

* * *

"How many times are you gonna look at your phone, mate?" Sheamus laughed as Wade tucked his phone back into his pocket.

"Just want to make sure I have the grill all ready to go when my woman gets here with the steaks."

"Yeah, OK, sure," Drew snorted from the leather recliner. "How long has his been since you saw her?"

Wade rolled his eyes, "yesterday morning, smartass."

"Don't worry, we'll give you a few minutes to catch up on lost time," the Irishman hooted.

Wade glared at his friends, "She's more than just a piece of ass, you immature jerks."

"Whoa, down boy, we're just teasin' ya'. Even us immature jerks can tell she's special, right Shea?"

"Yeah, come on Wade, you've been talking about this amazing woman nonstop for almost a year now, why do you think we want to meet her so badly?"

Wade scratched at his beard, "Yeah, sorry, mates, I guess I am a little anxious."

"Afraid we'll scare her away?" Drew teased, "Yannow, when she sees the losers you call friends?"

"Ha! She won't want to be associated with our drunk arses!"

"I should kick both your teeth in," Wade chuckled rolling his eyes. "I just worry she's not as invested in this as I am."

Both men quit their joking and looked at their friend, this was as serious as they've seen him, "Look man, she's not after your bank account, she's got as much cash as you do. Hell her apartment is worth more than your house."

He shook his head, "No, its not that. I'm getting a beer, you guys want one?"

"Sit your bloody arse down," Drew scolded, "Spit it out, mate. What's got your panties all in a bunch?"

Wade sighed and looked back and forth between his two best friends, well aside from Harv, these two were the only ones he could afford to look like an idiot in front of. "Alright, alright, I'll spill my guts, you nosy bastards."

* * *

Aside from some minor delays at the tolls, Abby sailed out of the city and was pulling into Wade's driveway in no time. She noticed a black SUV parked in front of the house and figured it was the rental his two buddies picked up at the airport, then she frowned remembering how drunk they were when they called her last night. "I swear," she muttered, "if I find out they drove home from the bar last night, I'll kick all their asses."

She used the remote to open the garage door and slowly pulled the Jag in, being overly careful, wanting to park exactly in the center like Wade always did. The garage was reserved specially for the Jag, to keep it shiny and protected from the elements, not a tool or a trashcan in site, Abby parked the car and grabbed her purse and the cooler from the back seat. She locked up and slipped into the kitchen through the mudroom on the side where she happily kicked off her dress shoes and slid her feet into the cozy pair of slippers she left there.

She could hear muted voices from the living room and was about to announce that she was starving but as she got closer she could hear Wade talking, did he say Tiffany's?

"You got it all picked out then?"

"Man up! Go buy it!"

"Buying it is the easy part," he sighed.

Abby gasped and tiptoed back to the mudroom, her heart racing, Tiffany's? Man up? Buy it? Her hand went to the gorgeous pendant hanging from her neck, but Wade already gave her a gift from Tiffany's. What else could he possibly… _Forever, Abs, I will love you forever_. She felt her eyes widen as she realized exactly what Wade had been shopping for, then instantly felt guilty for eavesdropping. She took a deep, calming breath and opened the mudroom door and slammed it shut, making it seem like she had just gotten in.

Wade met her in the kitchen and took the cooler from her hand as she dumped her purse on the counter, "Hey, love," he grinned.

"Hey, yourself," she replied standing on her toes to give him a kiss. She circled her arms around his shoulders and pulled him close, her fingers running through his hair as she kissed him.

He groaned and squeezed her ass before breaking the kiss, "well, that's a hello a man could get used to."

She felt her cheeks flush and shrugged her shoulders, "Guess I just missed you. Now where are these crazy friends of yours? And how long until we eat?"

"Oh we are right here, waiting for you two to come up for air," said a booming Irish voice.

She flushed even more and quickly stepped away from Wade, tripping slightly on her own two feet. Wade shook his head and smiled at her, taking her hand in his.

"And we are also wondering when this slacker is going to grill us some meat," the other one added.

"Well love, the big ginger idiot is Sheamus, and the hungry Scottish idiot is Drew," he said nodding at his friends, "This is Abby."

"Ah, the famous Abby," Drew said scooping her up into a bear hug.

"It's great to finally meet you, lass," Sheamus added, pulling her into a second rib crushing hug.

"Well, now that we've covered the introductions, and my feet are safely on the floor, I think we all agree that you need to put these steaks on the grill, immediately," she said handing Wade the cooler.

The two men started to tease Wade when Abby handed Sheamus a roll of paper towels and a spray bottle, "Clean off the patio table," then she turned to Drew and directed him to get plates and silverware to set the table.

"Whoa, she is kind of amazing," he said as they filed out to get dinner ready.

"Told ya," Wade replied giving Abby a wink.


	29. Rise and Shine

_**A/N: Sooooo... I have the next two chapters written for this story, but since I need to go out soon and I'm a whore for comments, I'm not going to post them all at the same time. So, enjoy, leave me some love (because I'm mostly a whore for comments) and I'll post some more shortly.**_

* * *

After staying up way past her bedtime the night before hanging out with Wade, Sheamus and Drew, Abby was in no condition to get up and drive back to the city in time for work. After checking her calendar to make sure she didn't have any meetings, she sent Freddy a quick text to let him know she'd be working from home. And by working from home, she meant propped up in Wade's bed surrounded by pillows, wearing another one of Wade's faded old tshirts that she claimed for pajamas and her laptop keeping her legs warm. Wade was still sound asleep next to her, he stayed up even later than she did, waiting to make sure his buddies were safely on their planes back home.

She managed to reply to all of her critical emails and decided it was time to take a break, she slid her laptop onto the night table and rolled onto her side, snuggling up against Wade's back. She traced the swirls of his tattoo, her fingers following the black ink and peppered light kisses across his shoulders and the back of his neck. He mumbled something unintelligible in his sleep as she let her hand roam across his chest, rubbing her fingers against his light chest hair, still kissing his broad back wherever her lips could reach. She knew he was awake now, so she hooked her leg around his and nibbled his ear, "Whatcha dreaming about?"

He groaned, "about your hand travelling a little lower."

"You dirty man," she scolded him, letting her hand slowly wander down his chest, tracing the lines of his lean, hard abs. "But then again, maybe dreams do come true," she whispered slipping her hand under the waistband of his boxer briefs and wrapped her hand around his semi hard length. "Rise and shine, Mr. Barrett."

"Mmmm, love, you are amazing."

She stroked him to full hardness, slowly at first, increasing her speed as he got harder, she sucked and nibbled his neck and was rewarded with a manly moan. "Now that's sexy," she muttered against his neck as she gripped his cock and rubbed the drop of precum across the head with her thumb. He arched his back to try to reach her and planted a sloppy kiss on the side of her lips.

"What's so sexy?" He gasped as she stroked him faster.

"When you moan for me."

"Oh there are sexier sounds than that," he smirked rolling her onto her back and pinning her hands over her head. He sucked the side of her neck and dragged his tongue down her throat, she gasped and tilted her head back. "Ahh there's one of those sexy noises," he growled.

He released her hands and kneeled between her legs, hooking her panties with his thumbs and pulling them off, "why do you insist on wearing these," he said shaking his head as he tossed them over his shoulder. He kissed the inside of her thigh and dragged two long fingers between her silky folds, she whimpered softly as he left hot open mouthed kisses on her inner thighs, his fingers slowly teasing her. "So many sexy sounds," he whispered as he slipped two fingers inside her. He thrust his long fingers slowly in and out as he dragged his lips across her inner thigh, she squirmed and gripped the sheets as he continued his sweet torture.

"Wade…" she whispered raising her hips.

"Yes, love?"

"More…"

"Sexy," he said with a wink as he pumped his fingers in and out of her wetness, curling his fingers and kneading one ass cheek with his other hand. He dug his fingers into her soft flesh and watched her juices coat his hand as his fingers slid easily in and out of her. She moaned loudly, arching her back and tossing her head back. He looked up at her, their eyes locking as he lowered his mouth to her mound. She whimpered softly in anticipation, he paused and slowly pulled his fingers out before thrusting them back in and licking her clit with the tip of his tongue.

Her whole body shook, his tongue sending jolts of pleasure shooting through her core, she cried out making him smirk. "Sexy sounds," he repeated, he continued thrusting his fingers in and out of her, his other hand still kneading her ass, dragging his tongue across her clit over and over. She whimpered and moaned his name, reaching down and running her fingers through his hair as he worked her pussy with his mouth and his fingers. Her body shook and her walls clenched around his fingers as she felt herself getting close. He propped one of her legs on his shoulder, his fingers abandoning her pussy as he gripped her ass with both hands and buried his face in her wetness. She moaned loudly as he pushed his tongue inside her, his beard rubbing against her thighs. He licked and sucked her, kneading her ass as she gripped his hair with one hand and the white knuckled the sheets with the other. She pressed her hips against his face, his tongue stroking her from hole to clit over and over. He looked up at her, her face flushed, her chest heaving as she panted in pleasure, his Preston football shirt bunched up giving him a glimpse of those breasts he loved so much, he groaned and pressed his tongue against her clit. Her body clenched and she rode his face, crying his name over and over again as she came.

He held her until her body stopped shaking, then kneeled in front of her and wiped his beard with one hand, "Now that's what I call sexy sounds."

He leaned down and kissed her lips, his beard still wet from pleasuring her, "roll over for me, love."

She started to pull her shirt off when he took her hand and stopped her, "Something about you in that shirt."

She grinned and rolled over, propping herself on her hands and knees and wiggled her ass for him. He gripped his cock and tapped her ass with it, he was so hard it hurt, he guided himself inside her, pausing when he was balls deep and moaning. "God, love, you feel so good."

He held her hips and pulled out of her slowly, his dick coated by her wetness, he paused for half a second before thrusting hard and fast making her yelp. "Sorry," he said quickly, "did I…"

"Shhhhh…. Do it again," she whimpered.

He grinned and ran his hands under her shirt, dragging his fingers down her back and he thrust in and out of her, hard and fast, his cock throbbing. "Abby, oh god, Abs…"

She grabbed fistfuls of the sheets and rocked her hips back and forth meeting every thrust and moaning loudly, their hips slapping together, "can't go much longer," he gasped.

"Come babe, come inside me," she said pressing back against him.

"Oh fuck," he groaned as dick twitched, "god that was sexy." He dug his fingers into her hips and held her tightly as he pounded himself into her dripping wet core. He let out a growl from deep in his chest and as thrust into her as hard as he could until he couldn't hold it in a second longer. He buried his cock inside her, his knees shaking as he filled her.

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled them both down onto the bed, "I love you."

She nuzzled his chest, "I love you too. Sorry I woke you up," she added with a giggle.

"Oh, I was already up, I was going to pounce on you anyway, but you beat me to it," he squeezed her ass and laughed at her cute pouty face.

"You are so lucky I love you," she said teasing him.

"Yes ma'am I certainly am. Now, you have work to do and we have no food in the house."

He kissed her lips and climbed out of bed, stretching, she pinched his ass and laughed when he yelped. He stood over her with his hands on his hips, "Don't you dare put underwear on either."

"Well, you shouldn't either," she retorted.

"Well now love, I can't go to the supermarket with the boys flying free, now can I?"

She dissolved into a fit of giggles, "Fair enough. Make sure you get ice cream."

"I will get whatever your heart desires as soon as I shower," he said as he turned towards the bathroom.

"Wade?"

"Yes, love?"

"Did you have any plans this weekend?" she asked as she settled back against the pillows and grabbed her laptop.

"Not really, was gonna try and get caught up on work since I've been slacking this week. Why?"

She shrugged and looked her laptop screen, waiting for her email to load, "I was going to go visit my parents on Saturday."

"Oh," he said rubbing his neck, "Well, I suppose I'll survive for a day or two on my own."

"Well…. I was wondering if you wanted to come with me."

He grinned and crossed back over to the bed and planted a big kiss on her lips, "I'd really like that, love."


	30. Down the Shore

The rest of the week was uneventful, with both Abby and Wade focused on getting caught up on work, they agreed to go to Wade's Friday night so that they could sleep in a little before heading down the shore in the morning.

Abby was in the kitchen wrapping up some banana muffins and an apple pie when Wade strolled in looking for coffee.

"Now that smells delicious," he said grabbing a muffin and taking a huge bite. "Wait, all this baking so early in the morning? What are you nervous about?"

She shrugged, "The bananas were brown and soft, perfect for muffins. And my dad loves apple pie."

"So, does that mean I can eat another muffin?" he asked leaning against the kitchen counter.

"Yes, you can eat all of them if you want. They would have been better if we had walnuts though."

"I do solemnly swear to purchase walnuts the next time I go shopping," he said crossing his heart, "and I will buy mushy old bananas."

She shook her head and stood on her tiptoes to give him a kiss, "You can also buy me a stepstool."

"Anything for you, love."

"I'm gonna shower and get dressed, we need to leave soon."

"Wait," he said as she turned to leave, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back to him, "one more kiss."

She circled her arms around his shoulders, stood on her tiptoes, leaned into him and pressed her lips against his, he squeezed her ass, "mmmm, now that's what I call a kiss."

"Now let me go shower before you distract me and we both wind up naked on the kitchen counter."

"I fail to see why that would be a bad thing," he said slipping his hands under her shirt.

"Because we need to leave soon, that's why."

"Fine," he pouted, "but I demand a rain check on the naked in the kitchen thing."

* * *

As soon as they got off the parkway Abby turned off the AC in the Jag and opened the windows, she grinned at Wade, "I love the way the air smells down here. Oh! After dinner we should take a trip to the boardwalk."

The closer they got to her parents' house, the more she babbled, finally as they turned down the block she turned to Wade, "Look, I just, you see, my dad… he's a little protective."

"He should be, you are his little girl."

She rolled her eyes, "Oh please, don't you start too."

"Does he own a gun?"

"Nah, you only gotta worry about Ambrose shooting you," she said laughing.

"Well, that's a relief."

"But he might not let you have any apple pie," she warned, "so be nice because I used all the apples and can't make you one tonight."

"Yeah, but I got all the banana muffins, so I call that a win."

They parked the car in the gravel driveway and Abby leaned over to kiss Wade on the cheek, "I love you."

"I love you too, now stop acting like we are visiting the firing squad," he said opening the car door.

She rolled her eyes and grabbed the pie from the back seat, along with her purse and keys, she let herself in the front door. "Mom! Dad! We're here!"

"In the kitchen, Abigail," her mother called.

"Does she always call you by your full name?" he asked trying not to smile.

"Don't go there."

She put the pie on the kitchen table and dropped her purse, before giving her mom a hug. "Hi mom. It smells great in here."

Her mother looked over Abby's shoulder and up at Wade, "My, my, you found yourself a tall one."

"Mom, this is Wade."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. DiNardo," he said taking her hand and kissing her knuckles.

"Oh, please, call me Julia."

"Hi Daddy," she said in response to the snorting sound coming from the doorway. She gave him a hug and a peck on the cheek, "be nice," she whispered.

"Sir," Wade said extending his hand, "Thank you for the invite."

Her father snorted again, earning him a death glare from his wife. "You watch baseball?" he asked.

Wade shook his head, "Not often, I can follow a game though."

"You drink beer?"

"Yes, sir," Wade nodded.

"Call him Tony," her mother said, "enough of this sir crap… Tony! Behave yourself."

Her father pulled two bottles out of the frig and waved Wade into the living room, "Yankees are playing. Getting their asses kicked."

Wade winked at Abby and followed the older man into the living room and settled down on the couch while Tony sat in his armchair. "So, Abby tells me you have your own business."

Abby peeked her head in the living room in time to hear part of Wade's answer, "Mom," she hissed, "Dad is giving him the third degree."

Her mother joined her in the doorway, "Well, it doesn't seem to be bothering him. Look how relaxed he is."

"You two need to work on your spying skills," her father said making Wade laugh.

"Dad! You promised you'd be nice!"

"I did no such thing, pumpkin," replied as the doorbell rang.

Abby groaned, "Mom, seriously? Who else did you invite?"

The front door opened and she heard a whistle followed by her cousin's voice, "That's a beaut of a car out there. No way little Abs bought herself a Jag."

She smacked herself in the forehead, of course, her mother called her aunt and her aunt called Enzo. "Don't look so happy to see me little cuz, what's wrong?" he asked rustling her hair.

"How many other cousins are going 'drop in' while they are 'in the neighborhood'?" she asked making air quotes.

"Come on, let me meet the new boyfriend, eh? I'll scare him a little to make sure he treats my favorite cousin right," Enzo said wrapping his arm around Abby's shoulders and squeezing her.

She sighed, "Enzo, this is Wade. Wade, meet my annoying cousin Enzo."

Wade stood up and crossed the room in two steps, Enzo looked up at the other man and chuckled, "Heh, he's a tall one. No worries, I can still scare him. Heya, Abs, did you happen to make an apple pie?"

"Keep your grubby paws off my apple pie," her father hollered from his spot in front of the TV. "And keep the noise down, I'm trying to watch a ball game."

"The Yankees and some cold beers? I'm down," he said plopping on the couch where Wade had been sitting.

Abby opened her mouth to yell at him when Wade wrapped his arm around her waist and kissed her forehead, "Relax, love."

"Abigail, come help me in the kitchen," her mother said.

"But…"

"Go help your mum. I can handle this."

"Ha! He said mum," Enzo chuckled from the couch, "That's awesome. Yo, Abs, toss me a beer."

She narrowed her eyes at her cousin, "If I toss you a beer, I'll make sure it hits you in the head."

"Nah, your aim ain't that good. You'd probably break a window or something. Oh, hey, how many things has she spilled on you?" he added turning his attention back to Wade.

Wade took a swig of his beer, "I refuse to answer that."

"Smart man," Tony said, "very smart man."

Abby finally followed her mother in the kitchen and helped her finish preparing dinner, leaving Wade alone to deal with her father and her cousin.

"Honestly, Abigail, you have nothing to worry about, I think your father really likes him."

"How can you tell?"

"Are you kidding? He offered him a beer. When did he ever open the frig and hand a beer to Alex?"

Abby giggled, "Never. Think he'll share the apple pie?"

"With Wade? Yes. With Enzo? Not a chance."

* * *

They were finishing up dinner and Abby was about to start a pot of coffee brewing when she heard her phone ringing from her purse.

"You better answer that, Abigail, its been ringing all through dinner," her mother said.

"You heard it all the way in the dining room? Why didn't you say anything?"

"You know the rules, no phones at the dinner table," he mother replied putting her hands on her hips.

She rolled her eyes and dug her phone out of her bag, she looked at the display and gasped, "it's Roman!"

She took the phone and walked into the living room so that she could hear, "Roman?"

"God Abs, where are you? I've been calling…"

"Sorry, Roman, I'm at my parents' house, we were eating dinner and you know the rule…"

"No phones at the table, yeah, I know, but listen Abs, I need you," he said his voice cracking.

"What happened?" she said as her heart started to race.

Wade walked in, "Did you say its Roman?"

She nodded and she listened to her friend, "Sav is in labor, Abs."

"What? Now? No. Its too soon!"

"I know, I know, that's why I need you."

She looked up at Wade, his eyes clouding with concern, "OK, ok, where's Ariel?"

"My parents have her, Sav's parents are on their way and Dani and Dean will be here as soon as Dean's parents get there to take the twins."

"Good. And Sav?"

He blew out a sigh, she could picture Roman pacing the halls in the hospital, "She's scared. Abs, I'm scared too. They gave her something that's supposed to slow down the contractions but…"

"Ok, Roman, she's going to be OK. She's exactly where she needs to be. All she needs is you now. Take a deep breath and be strong for her OK?"

"Abs, we need you here."

She looked at Wade and he nodded, "OK, ok, we can be there in an hour."

"Oh hell no, we cannot be there in an hour," he said.

"We can if I drive."

"You are NOT driving," he said firmly, "Tell Roman we will be there in an hour and a half."

"Fine. We'll be there in an hour and a half," she repeated.

"Thanks, Abs."

"Roman? You tell Sav that I said she's got this, OK? And tell her I love her and I'll be there as soon as I can."

Abby disconnected the call and blinked back tears, "Mom! Dad! We have to go now."

"I heard, you give them both a hug from me. And be strong for them."

"Thanks mom, poor Roman, he was terrified."

"I can't blame him one bit," her father said, he gave his little girl a bear hug and then shook Wade's hand, "You take good care of her, you understand?"

"Yes, sir," he said as Abby scrambled to gather her things.

"And call us as soon as you get there," her mother added. "I'm going to go cook some casseroles."

"I see the stress cooking is genetic," Wade said.

Enzo nodded, "Yeah, my mom does the same, its crazy."

"Go, go, shoo, Sav and Roman need you," her mother said pushing them out the door. "Tell Roman I'm going to make lasagna and freeze it. They can have it for dinner."

Her parents and Enzo watched from the driveway until they turned off the block. Abby looked over at Wade, "I'm scared," she said as the tears started spilling down her face.

"I know, love, I know. I am too," he said flooring the gas pedal.


	31. The Hospital Waiting Room

Abby and Wade ran into the hospital waiting room just after Dean and Dani got there, they found Sav's parents and rushed over. "Any news?"

"None yet. Roman is with her though…" her mother said wrapping Dani and Abby into a group hug. "My girl is so lucky to have friends like you."

Dean slapped Wade on the back, "So, you met the parents, huh?"

Wade nodded, "And a cousin."

"Enzo?" Wade nodded again and Dean rolled his eyes, "that annoying little twerp."

Wade laughed, "Nah he's not that bad."

"So it went OK?"

"Yeah, yeah, I think so," he said running a hand through his hair.

"What's the last thing her old man said to you?" Dean asked.

"He told me to take care of her."

"Yeah, it went OK," Dean said with a nod, "better than OK, I think."

They looked over at their women, they were standing huddled together squeezing each other's hands as Sav's parents paced up and down the halls. "It's gonna be a long night," Wade stated.

"Yeah, let's make a coffee run," Dean agreed, "No one should have to drink the crap they have here. It's worse than the sludge they have at the station."

"I feel a little guilty now for eating all the muffins Abby made this morning."

"Muffins? What kind?"

"Banana. Ambrose, they were awesome. I will make sure that I always buy bananas and never eat them."

He barked out a laugh, "Yeah, you are one lucky bastard."

"Don't I know it," he said looking over at Abby.

* * *

The two men took coffee orders and hightailed it to the nearest Starbucks and back, they grabbed an extra coffee for Roman and some snacks.

"You ever think about kids?" Dean asked as they walked back to the car.

Wade shrugged, "Not really, I mean, I love my nieces and nephew, I dunno man."

"You and Abby talk about it at all?"

"Nah," he said as they climbed in and he carefully arranged all the coffees in his lap and in the cup holders.

Dean shrugged, "We never talked about it either, me and Dani, I mean. But one day we just kinda looked at each other and knew it was time to start trying."

"We aren't exactly at that point yet," Wade replied. "And take it easy, this coffee is hot," he added as Dean slammed on the gas and his car lurched out of the parking lot.

Dean laughed, "Imagine what I'd do if I didn't like you."

* * *

Abby and Dani were sitting restlessly in the hard plastic waiting room chairs when Sav's parents disappeared. Shortly after that, Roman came into the waiting area looking ragged, his normally perfect manbun was drooping and he had dark circles under his eyes. He managed a smile when he saw them both looking at him, they both jumped up and hugged him.

"She's OK, tired, and drugged, but OK," he said as they squeezed him.

"Would you look at that," Dean hollered, "We make a coffee run and the big dog makes a move on our women, unbelievable."

Roman made a show of shaking the two ladies away, "You can have them if you give me one of those coffees."

After a round of bro hugs, Roman sat down and took a gulp of the coffee, "Nice. Extra strong, I needed that."

They sat quietly for a few minutes before Dean piped up, "Wade met the parents today. And Enzo."

Dani shook her head, "Is Enzo still alive?"

Abby threw her hands up, "I can't believe my mom invited him."

Wade laughed, "Aw, he's not that bad." They all glared at him, "OK, ok, maybe he's annoying, but he loves you Abs."

"But what about Mr. DiNardo?" Roman said raising an eyebrow.

"Does he make you call him Mr. DiNardo?" Wade asked innocently, "I mean, he gave me a beer and said I could call him Tony."

"Son of a bitch," Dean muttered, "he never gave me a beer."

"And you still have to call him Mr. DiNardo," Dani snickered.

"Oh! That reminds me," Abby said, "Roman, I'm supposed to tell you that my mom is making you a lasagna."

"The stress cooking is genetic," Wade added, "I learned that today. You might need a bigger freezer."

"Nah, I'll just invite the Ambroses over for dinner, those twins really pack it in."

"Tell me about it," Dani said rolling her eyes, "Their little asses are gonna need to get a job soon."

Roman stood up and stretched, "Look, its gonna be a while here before anything happens, you should all go home."

"No way," Abby said.

"Not a chance," Dani echoed.

Roman looked at Dean and Wade.

"Sorry big man," Dean said, "The boss has spoken."

"If Abby stays, I stay." Wade added.

Roman sighed as the elevator doors opened and Ariel ran out with his parents right behind, "Mom. Dad. What?"

"She insisted on seeing you before she went to bed," his mother said, "She's scared too," she added softly.

Ariel looked around and pouted, "How come everyone gets to stay here except for me?"

Roman scooped his little girl up and hugged her, "Well, Princess, you see, this is a grownup thing, and you have grandma and grandpa here to spoil you."

"Is mommy ok?"

Roman sighed, his little girl looked at him wide eyed, his mother was right, she was scared too, "Mommy will be OK, the doctors gave her medicine that makes her very sleepy. And Grammy and Pop are with her now."

"And the baby? Its still in her belly, right?"

"Yes, the baby is still in Mommy's belly." He turned to his parents and his friends who were shamelessly eavesdropping, "I think I need my little princess to stay with me for a little while."

Ariel gasped, "You need me, Daddy?"

"I certainly do. You give the best hugs in the whole world."

Abby rested her head on Wade's shoulder, Dani and Dean held hands and Roman's parents nodded in approval as Roman carried his little girl off to a private corner in the waiting room. Within minutes Ariel was fast asleep on her Daddy's chest and Roman allowed himself to doze off.

"Poor guy is knackered," Wade said.

Dean looked at him, "The fuck is knackered supposed to mean?"

Wade rolled his eyes, "He's exhausted."

"Why didn't you just say that? Speak English dammit…"

"Babe," Dani said, "technically…"

"Ooooo…. Yeah, I see your point," he said nodding.

Abby snickered, "I love you guys."

A nurse came out with a clipboard, "Mr. Reigns?" she asked looking around. "Your wife needs you."

He slowly sat up and let his father take Ariel from him, she grumbled and settled into her grandpa's arms and went back to sleep. Roman followed the nurse and left the rest of them waiting and wondering.

Dani jumped up and chased after the nurse, "Is everything OK?"

"I can only speak to family," she said apologetically.

"I'm Mrs. Reigns, Mr. Reigns mother, does that count?"

The nurse nodded, "Yes, I suppose so. Although the contractions have slowed, the fetal heart rate is weak. We've alerted the NICU and are prepping Mrs. Reigns for a cesarian."

"Will they be Ok?"

"Mrs. Reigns is not in any medical distress," she said.

"And the baby?" Mrs. Reigns whispered.

"The baby has a weak heart rate. We are prepping for a cesarian," she repeated. "I'm sorry, but that's all I can say with any certainty. I have to go speak with Mr. Reigns."

Dani choked back a sob and Mrs. Reigns took her hand and let her back to the seats. Abby didn't say a word, she just looked at sweet little Ariel sleeping in her grandfather's arms. Wade wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"All we can do is wait," Dean said with frustration.

It felt like hours had passed when Sav's parents came into the waiting area with tears in their eyes, they all jumped up and waited anxiously for them to speak. Her father found his voice first, "They are going to be OK!"

"It's a boy!" her mother cried, "he's been rushed to the NICU but he's going to be just fine."

"And Sav?" Abby asked clutching Wade's arm.

"She's in post op now, we can't see her yet, but she's fine. My baby girl is OK," she said bursting into tears of relief.

A round of cheers roused Ariel from her sleep, she rubbed her eyes and looked around, "Where's Daddy?"

"Oh sweetie, he's with mommy. Or he's with the baby. We don't really know."

"Grammy! Am I a big sister?" she squealed.

"Yes you are! You have a teeny tiny little baby brother."

"Can I meet him?"

"Not yet, princess," Pop said, "But I know where he is and we can go look in the window and get a peek at him. What do you think?"

"Yes!" she cheered, "Come on, everyone lets go find my baby brother."

Wade held Abby tight and looked over her head at Dean, "You know what we need to do now, right?"

Dean nodded, "Hells yeah! We need some cigars!"

"With little blue ribbons," he added.


	32. Stitches

**_A/N: OK so here's a mini update for these two. I saw a writing prompt on Tumblr a few weeks (or months?) back that said "That's going to need stitches." And of course, I thought of my clumsy OC Abby. So, here it is…_**

* * *

Abby was rushing around Wade's kitchen trying to get everything cooked and wrapped up for tomorrow's big welcome home party. Sav was finally going to leave the hospital and bring baby Colin home to Roman and Ariel. Abby and Dani split up the cooking duties while the grandma's handled cleaning and decorating. Cooking in Wade's kitchen was a luxury, as much as she loved her penthouse apartment, this kitchen was easily three times the size of hers and Wade finally got her a stepstool!

She pulled the cakes out of the oven and put them on the cooling racks and took out the hand mixer to start on the frosting. She measured and added all of the ingredients while thinking of what she could make for her and Wade to have for dinner. She spent all day cooking and baking and didn't even plan her own dinner, figures.

Wade was in his office trying to catch up on work while Abby took over his kitchen. He was pretty sure she used every single pot and pan he owned as well as some that she brought with her. His job for tomorrow's party was simple, he had met Ambrose earlier in the day and they picked out the finest cigars they could find and had the shop owner wrap a blue ribbon around them. After that, he went back to Tiffany's and picked up the ring he had made for Abby, he was fiddling with the box when his cell phone rang.

"Hey Harv, I was looking at the financials on that new property…" he said placing the ring in his desk drawer.

"Same, we need to call the investors together on Monday, see if we can trim the costs back," his brother replied.

"You know, now that Sav is home and everyone is healthy, we can call Roman to get that landscaping done, he always comes in lower."

Harv grunted, "I dunno, this is a big job."

"Look, he's got all local suppliers, we will save tons on shipping costs, plus it looks good when we support local businesses."

"Think he can get moving on it right away?"

Wade scratched his beard, "Yeah, man, I don't see why not. Look, I'll be at his place tomorrow, I'll ask him if he's ready to take on a new project."

Whatever Harv's answer was, Wade didn't hear it, all he heard was the horrible sound of things falling, glass breaking and Abby yelping. "Gotta go," he said tossing his phone down and racing to the kitchen.

Abby was sitting on the kitchen floor, trying to figure out how things went so horribly wrong when Wade came flying in, "Abs… Oh my god, you are bleeding."

"I am?" she asked, "where?"

He grabbed a dishtowel and wrapped it around her hand, "How did you do this?"

She shook her head, "I was making frosting, mocha frosting! And it was too thick so I turned around to get more cream and I knocked the coffee pot over and I went to grab it and it broke and everything fell and then I tried to clean it up, but the frosting dripped on the floor and I didn't know and I slipped and and and…." She choked back a sob and looked up at Wade, "I'm so sorry."

He helped her up and settled her on a chair, "Let me see your hand. What else hurts?"

"My ass," she sniffled.

He smirked and wiped some frosting off her cheek, "You are a mess. This is going to need stitches, Abs."

She shook her head, "Noooo! I need to make another batch of frosting! And I was going to make dinner!"

"You aren't going to make anything, stay right here, don't move a muscle," he said kissing her on the forehead and standing up, "I'll get my wallet and keys and our shoes and we will go to the emergency room."

"No, its fine, see?" she said trying to flex her hand, she whimpered and squeezed her eyes shut. "I just need some ice and a bandaid."

"Don't move," he repeated.

"Maybe a little Neosporin…"

"Or some stitches," he said. "Don't move."

* * *

A few hours later, Abby's hand was stitched up and wrapped in a bandage and she had a prescription for pain meds and antibiotics, she sat in the Jag and pouted the entire way to the pharmacy.

"Abs, love, does it hurt?"

She shook her head, "I still need to make frosting."

"Abigail… you heard the doctor."

"I can't bring a naked cake!" she yelled, "This is important!"

"Do you want to get blood all over the cake?"

"No," she huffed. "But still…"

"We can buy frosting," he said. "And I can put it on, because you are not touching any sharp objects ever again."

She rolled her eyes, "Does that mean you are going to cut my food for me too?"

"Yes. And I will feed you too, because I'm not even sure if I should let you have a fork."

She huffed and looked out the window, the cake was ruined and the kitchen was a mess and of course, she broke the coffee pot. "Only me…" she muttered.

"Well, there is a silver lining to all of this," Wade said looking over at his pouting girlfriend, "Since you can't get that hand wet for at least 24 hours, so I'll have to help you shower."

He stopped for a red light and ran his hand up her thigh, she swatted at him and tried desperately to stay mad, "I think this spot right here, needs extra soap," he said groping her boob.

She snorted, "You are such a horny bastard."

He grinned, "And you did say you hurt your ass…"

"Well before you kiss it and make it all better, can I at least call Dani and ask her to take care of the frosting for my cake?"

"What you don't trust me to slap some frosting on your precious cake?" he asked faking insult.

"Not with your hand still on my boob," she said rolling her eyes.

He flashed her another wolfish grin, "Well, in that case, I'd just make sure to get extra frosting."

"What? Why? Ohh…." She said as her face flushed.

He squeezed her boob again and waggled his eyebrows, "I do like chocolate frosting."


	33. Welcome Home Party

The next day Wade helped Abby load all of the goodies she cooked before her emergency room visit into the Jag and they made their way to the Reigns residence, where two sets of grandparents were anxiously awaiting the happy family's homecoming. Wade chuckled as their attention turned to Abby and the gleaming white bandage on her hand.

"What on earth did you do this time, sweetheart?" Mrs. Reigns asked.

Abby hung her head, "Oh, just a little accident, its not that big of a deal."

Dani laughed, "No, not a big deal at all, that's why I got a hysterical phone call last night."

"I was not hysterical!" Abby said scowling.

Dani looked at Wade who just held his hands up in mock surrender, "Wise man," Dean said slapping him on the back.

Dani rolled her eyes, "Whatever you say Abs, let's take a look at this naked cake of yours, shall we? And before you even say a word, yes I am positive that I have enough frosting."

Once the women left the room, Wade turned to Dean, "Yeah, she was pretty hysterical."

"Bro, I know it, I could hear her thru the phone. 'Mocha frosting! It was supposed to be mocha frosting'," he said with a snort. "So, your second time hauling our girl to the emergency room, huh?"

He nodded, "If it happens again, I fear they may start to suspect me of abusing her."

"Don't worry man, I got your back, just call me if they start looking at you funny," he said hooking his thumbs into his belt loops, "I'll flash my badge and it will be all good."

"Just don't shoot anyone…"

"Why does everyone always say that? Its not like I run around waving my gun in the air," he said making a face.

Before Wade could reply, Sav's mom came racing in from her post at the front window, "They're here! They're here! Quick everyone, come on, there are here!"

They all gathered in the living room and waited for the front door to open, Roman held the baby carrier while an exhausted Sav was ushered in by a very excited Princess Ariel, "Welcome home Mommy!"

"Welcome home!" they all echoed.

Ariel cleared her throat and everyone settled down, "I have a very important announcement, Daddy, please come next to me." Roman quickly shuffled over and took the baby from his carrier and got down on one knee next to his daughter. "Thank you, Daddy. Everyone, I would like to introduce you to my new baby brother, Ayden Reigns. And I would like you to know, that I am still my Daddy's favorite princess." She ended her speech with a regal courtesy and everyone crowded the Reign's family to give out hugs and to meet the little one.

Abby scooped up Ariel, "that was the best speech I've ever heard," she said.

"Awww, thanks Aunt Abby. Hey, what happened to your hand?"

"Its just a little cut, don't worry about it," she said.

"How many stitches did you get this time, Aunt Abby?"

"It wasn't that bad, love," Wade said putting his arm around them both, "Princess Ariel, your presence is requested for the family portrait."

* * *

"Now I need a picture with my girls," Sav said shooing Roman away to make room for Dani and Abby. She adjusted little Ayden in her lap and Ariel squeezed between her mommy and Abby.

"Us too! Us too!" the twins cried as they climbed onto Dani's lap.

"Excuse you, this is a girls only picture," Ariel said.

Jon looked at his brother and then at the baby and then back at Ariel, "The baby is a boy."

Ariel threw up her hands, "Duh, he's the guest of honor. He's in all the pictures."

"How about we take one with all of the boys too, after we take a girls one?" Dani suggested.

"Come on rugrats, wait your turn," Dean said grabbing his boys by their collars and dragging them back to where he was standing with Wade.

"Daaaadddddddd! We want to see the baby too!"

"Hush, your loud mouths," he said "Why don't they come with a mute button?"

"But Dad! Daddddd! DADDY!" they wailed in unison.

"See now you spent so much time whining, you didn't even notice that its our turn to be in the picture," he said scooping up one boy under each arm.

Ariel crinkled her nose, "Mommy, is my baby brother gonna be gross like _them_ when he gets bigger?"

Roman laughed, "Princess, all boys are gross, all the time. Never touch them."

"Except for you, Daddy," she said climbing in his lap.

"Nah, your Daddy is pretty gross too," Sav said with a chuckle, "ever go in the bathroom after he's been in there 'reading'?"

Roman shrugged, "Haters. Let's take this picture already, I want some cake," he looked around and noticed someone was missing, "Hey, get your ass over you big Brit."

Wade started to protest, "Nah, man, it's a family photo…"

Dean rolled his eyes, "Yeah, which is why we need your ugly mug in it."

Abby snickered, "Come on babe, get over here."

"If you insist," he said sitting down and pulling his lady onto his lap.

* * *

After everyone settled down, Wade got Roman' attention, "hey man, how do you feel about talking business right now?"

Roman scratched his now bushy and overgrown beard, "What you got in mind?"

"A new property, condos out on the island near Montauk. Lots of greenery needs to be taken care of. Gotta be honest with you, we need to cut back some of the costs and Harv isn't keen on bringing you in, thinks you might be too distracted to take on something this big."

"Condos in Long Island? Hell yeah, count me in. Besides my mom and Sav's mom are going to be in and out like this is Grand Central Station, I'll be ready to get out of the house before the weekend is over."

"Excellent," Wade said with a grin, "Let's give Harv a call and set a time for your people to meet with our people."

After setting up a meeting at the Barrett offices bright and early Monday morning, the two men rejoined the party. Wade stopped and watched Abby, she was holding tiny Ayden and laughing at while one of the twins wrapped his arms around her leg. She leaned down and ruffled his hair while still rocking the infant in her other arm. Roman clapped him on the shoulder, "Make it happen, man."

He nodded and turned his attention to Ambrose, who was holding their box of fine blue ribbon wrapped cigars.

"Now for the man's gift of this girly party," he said clearing his throat and opening the lid.

"Like hell you think you are smoking those things in my house," Sav said pointing towards the door to the patio.

The men hung their heads and filed out into the yard, "guess the men will just party outside… be one with nature!" Dean called over his shoulder.

"Manly men smoking manly cigars," Wade added.

"Yeah, on the manly patio," Abby said rolling her eyes as the door closed behind them.

The twins raced to the door, "Men only party!" they yelled.

Dani grabbed them by their arms, "And where do you think you are going?"

"To the man party," Joey replied putting his hands on his hips.

"Oh and you two think you are men?" she said eyeing her little boys.

They stood up tall and nodded their heads, "Yes, mommy."

She shrugged, "Ok, go bother your dad."

"Yay! Man Party! Man Party!" they cheered running outside.

Just then Ayden woke up and started to wail, "Oh boy," Abby said, "Someone needs to go to mommy. Here ya go Sav, he kinda smells funny."

Ariel leaned over and sniffed her brother, "Ewwww!" she cried covering her nose, "he does smell funny."


End file.
